Integrating Indigenous and scientific perspectives on environmental changes: Insights from boreal landscapes

Abstract

Globally, landscapes are facing unprecedented transformations under the pressures of climate change, natural resource exploitation and land-use change (IPBES, 2018;Lewis & Maslin, 2015). Environmental changes affect human well-being, especially in Indigenous contexts (Chapin et al., 2004;Fuentes et al., 2020). Indigenous people have a close and multifaceted relationship with the land, as it provides goods and services, in addition to supporting livelihood, culture and identity Davidson-Hunt & Berkes, 2003;Saint-Arnaud et al., 2009). The consequences of environmental changes are observed first-hand by Indigenous people and interpreted through Indigenous ecological knowledge, anchored in place, time and culture (Asselin, 2015;Davidson-Hunt & O'Flaherty, 2007).