International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous youth leaders share perspectives on ocean protection, emphasizing Indigenous knowledge, rights, and the protection of ocean kin for health and well-being. This side event centers Indigenous youth leadership in ensuring Indigenous Peoples' health through the protection of ocean kin. For Indigenous coastal communities, ocean health is directly linked to physical health, food sovereignty, mental well-being, cultural continuity, and intergenerational resilience. In contexts of conflict—including resource extraction, pollution, overfishing, climate disruption, and the criminalization of Indigenous fishers—harm to ocean ecosystems results in direct harm to Indigenous Peoples' health systems and ways of life. Ocean kin are not resources; they are relatives within legal and governance systems grounded in responsibility and reciprocity. Indigenous youth are advancing rights-based frameworks that recognize the inherent rights of marine ecosystems while affirming Indigenous j...

When the glacier disappears, a new epoch will begin.”This prophecy, passed down by the Quechua people of the Peruvian Andes, is no longer a distant warning, it is becoming a lived reality. Across high mountain regions, from Bolivia to Bhutan, the disappearance of glaciers is not only an environmental crisis but a cultural and spiritual rupture. For many Indigenous communities, these icy peaks are living deities, guardians of balance, and sources of ancestral knowledge. In Nepal, rituals must now adapt to the melting summits. In Bolivia, entire ways of life are dissolving alongside the snow. And in China, even scientists are banned from stepping onto sacred glaciers, seen as vital to the survival of the communities below. This #IndigenousPeoplesDay , discover how climate change is transforming traditions and what the world can learn from Indigenous wisdom that sees land, spirit, and culture as inseparable. Read the full story in The UNESCO Courier: "Traditions shaken by global war...

Indigenous knowledge refers to the diverse and numerous forms of understandings, skills, and philosophies developed by local communities with long histories and experiences of interaction with their natural surroundings. Research has shown that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices significantly contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment. Recognizing the immense value of Indigenous knowledge for the protection of our ocean, the Ocean Decade aims to enhance the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems within ocean science s, and promotes the co-design of ocean science with Indigenous peoples across the world .