This Week on Earth: Nov 20-26
Fall foliage on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. (Arthi Venkatesh/ION)
Maine
The Penobscot Nation will receive 31,000 acres of land in north-central Maine, returned by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land after it was purchased from a timber investor. Running along the east branch of the Penobscot River, the land is home to moose, bears, wood turtles and endangered Atlantic Salmon. Penobscot citizens call it the Wáhsehtəkʷ project.
The largest return of Indigenous land in U.S. history, this move represents a recent shift in the conservation movement to bolster Indigenous sovereignty for environmental protection.
The Penobscot Nation will have their land returned without any restrictions, and they intend on protecting the land while enhancing tribal fishing, hunting and conservation protections of local plants and animals. Research shows that Indigenous nations do not require limitations on land-use activities to achieve positive conservation outcomes.
On lands that are already managed by the Penobscot Nation, for example, surveys show that forests have larger populations of tricolor bats and little brown bats, species otherwise considered endangered in Maine.
“Indigenous partners shouldn’t have to prove why their stewardship is better, but the proof is happening. It’s out there,” said Brett Ciccotelli, the tribal land recovery manager with First Light, a nonprofit that connects Maine’s tribes and conservation organizations.
While conservation is a benefit of landback, land return is primarily about reinstating sovereignty and self-determination to the Indigenous Nations that have existed for time immemorial prior to European colonization.
Azerbaijan
COP29, the 29th U.N. Climate Conference that started two weeks ago, concluded with a $300 billion climate finance deal to help nations of the Global South endure climate change impacts.
Activists have called the deal “a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed,” as climate vulnerable nations require a total of $1.3 trillion per year to deal with climate impacts, according to a new report released during COP29.
Climate financing funded by the Global North recognizes that nations like the U.S. built their economies through fossil fuel production and the exploitation of the Global South. The COP29 financing deal only allocates a target of $300 billion per year to poorer nations, with little mention of disaster relief projects, and it remains unclear if the funding will come from grant-based finance or debt-producing loans.
The inadequate financing deal reflects the failures of the conference in itself to address systemic issues that contribute to climate change disparities, such as colonialism, capitalism and militarism.
Members of The Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, for example, said COP29 “once again ignored” Pacific Island nations, who are responsible for less than 0.02% of global emissions but face the most severe impacts of climate change. Sea level rise and worsening storm systems are already causing climate-induced migration in Tuvalu and Fiji.
Vanuatu Climate Action Network coordinator Trevor Williams criticized Global North nations for their inability to help Pacific nations despite driving the climate crisis.
"Their unwillingness to contribute sufficient finance, phase out fossil fuels, or strengthen their NDCs demonstrates a deliberate attempt to evade responsibility. COP29 has taught us that if optionality exists, developed countries will exploit it to stall progress,” said WIlliams.
Aotearoa New Zealand
Nearly 55,000 people protested for nine days outside of the Aotearoa (New Zealand) parliament last week against a proposed bill that would curtail Indigenous Māori rights.
The proposed bill, known as the Treaty Principles bill, advocates for “equal rights” for the citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand by undermining the Treaty of Waitangi, a treaty signed in 1840 by the British Crown and Māori chiefs.
The te reo Māori version of the Treaty of Waitangi, or Te Tiriti o Waitangi, guarantees “rangatiratanga,” or self-determination, to Māori chiefs, while the English version of the treaty guarantees Māori the “full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries.”
The Treaty Principles bill, however, would allow the New Zealand colonial government to possess equal governing capacity over all people of New Zealand, regardless of whether they are Māori—effectively eroding Māori sovereignty.
If passed, the bill would negatively impact Aotearoa’s biodiversity conservation by limiting the capacity of Māori environmental governance over New Zealand’s ecosystems. Mike Smith, a Māori climate activist, said that the act would erode the “environmental stewardship practices that are rooted in Māori morals and values and thereby impact the country’s ability to address all the environmental challenges,” including climate change.
Māori environmental practices and philosophies are key to combating climate change and protecting Indigenous biodiversity. The New Zealand colonial government has already codified Indigenous Māori knowledge into contemporary climate policy, such as when they granted legal personhood to the Whanganui river. As co-governors of New Zealand’s water sources and lands, Māori peoples are spearheading local and national environmental initiatives to preserve Aotearoa’s resources.
Retaining their land rights as the Indigenous peoples of New Zealand is therefore critical toward sustaining Māori cultural practices and the overall health of the environment.