Search Results (587)

Marine biological invasions are rapidly reshaping Mediterranean ecosystems, with growing consequences for biodiversity and fisheries. This study investigates recent changes in the composition of commercially important crustacean assemblages along the south-eastern coast of Sicily (central Mediterranean), focusing on penaeid shrimps (Penaeus aztecus and Penaeus kerathurus) and stomatopods (Erugosquilla massavensis and Squilla mantis). Field surveys were conducted during the fishing seasons of 2021 and 2025 at major landing sites and markets (Portopalo di Capo Passero, Syracuse and Catania), using standardized subsampling protocols applied to catches obtained by trammel nets and bottom trawls. Species composition was quantified through repeated sampling events, and temporal differences were analyzed using non-parametric tests and binomial generalized linear models, incorporating year and fishing gear as explanatory variables. Quantitative data were complemented by local ecological knowledge derived from structured interviews with professional fishers. Across the four-year interval, both taxonomic groups exhibited a pronounced shift in species dominance. The proportion of the invasive shrimp P. aztecus increased from approximately 20% in 2021 to over 80% in 2025, while the invasive stomatopod E. massavensis rose from about 2% to nearly 90% of total landings. These changes were statistically significant and independent of fishing gear. Fishers’ perceptions closely mirrored the quantitative trends, confirming the rapid replacement of native species by non-indigenous taxa and highlighting emerging socio-economic implications for local fisheries. Our findings document a rapid shift in the composition of commercial crustacean landings in Sicilian coastal waters, with invasive species becoming the dominant component of catches within a few years. This study underscores the need for adaptive fisheries management and integrated monitoring frameworks capable of responding to accelerating biological invasions in Mediterranean marine ecosystems. Full article

The spatial distribution and productivity of subsistence resources are central to food security, nutrition, and cultural vitality in circumpolar Indigenous communities. Yet few studies incorporate Indigenous Knowledge in methodology to monitor subsistence plant species. Here, we apply participatory action research to develop a monitoring system for the culturally and nutritionally important Rubus chamaemorus (atsalugpiaq, salmonberry) near the Yup’ik village of Quinhagak in southwest Alaska. With support from community members, two ground-truth surveys assessed berry productivity at nine sites within Quinhagak’s Traditional Land Use Area. Seventeen interviews identified key themes related to subsistence harvest and highlighted winter meteorological factors important for analysis. We compiled a multi-year dataset including PlanetScope eight-band SuperDove imagery (3 m GSD); airborne LiDAR and satellite-derived DEMs; and four meteorological parameters. Linear regression and multiple adaptive regression splines were tested to evaluate relationships among vegetation health, climate, landscape features, and berry productivity. Model outputs identified chlorophyll-related vegetation indices, particularly MTCI, as strong predictors of harvest outcomes, with higher flowering-season MTCI values associated with greater berry abundance. This work establishes a foundational, scalable approach for the long-term monitoring of Arctic subsistence plants in conjunction with Arctic communities and demonstrates the value of multi-layer data integration in regions historically challenging for remote sensing and ground surveys improving outcomes for regional harvest predictions and increased understanding of possible mechanisms controlling berry productivity in Arctic regions. Full article

Indigenous food systems are increasingly threatened by climate change, socio-economic transformations, and reduced access to traditional lands and resources, contributing to disproportionately high levels of food insecurity among Indigenous peoples. Despite growing recognition of Indigenous food systems within sustainability research, limited attention has been given to Indigenous food system governance across different contexts. This study examined: (1) how Indigenous food systems vary across continents; (2) the key characteristics of Indigenous food system governance; and (3) how these characteristics are expressed within Sri Lankan Vedda communities. A systematic literature review of 143 publications from Web of Science and Scopus was conducted alongside a multi-sited case study involving 114 semi-structured interviews across six Vedda communities in Sri Lanka. Findings revealed continental variations in food sourcing, food sources, food use, and harvesting practices. Eight interconnected governance characteristics were identified: co-management, leadership, participatory research, partnerships, social networks, mutualism, collective action, and religious/cultural dimensions. Evidence from Sri Lankan Vedda communities demonstrated that strong leadership, social cohesion, and collaborative partnerships enhanced food security and resilience, whereas weakened governance structures and limited external support contributed to food insecurity. The study highlights the importance of strengthening Indigenous self-governance to support sustainable Indigenous food systems. Full article

Indigenous students continue to experience persistent educational inequities shaped by colonial histories, assimilationist schooling structures, and the marginalization of Indigenous knowledge systems. Although social–emotional learning (SEL) is widely promoted as foundational to student well-being and academic success, dominant SEL frameworks often reflect Eurocentric assumptions that overlook Indigenous understandings of relationality, land, identity, healing, and collective responsibility. In alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), this study examines how SEL and teacher professional development can be reimagined through Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). Using a qualitative collaborative ethnographic design integrated with a structured literature synthesis, the study drew on two years of community-engaged research involving collaborative focus group dialogues, community interactions, and sustained relational engagement with Native teachers, Elders, cultural leaders, and community practitioners (N = 20). Thematic analysis revealed five interrelated themes: culturally grounded SEL frameworks, structural barriers and equity-driven strategies, culture as prevention and healing, schoolwide conditions that sustain belonging and identity, and alignment between Indigenous-centered SEL and SDG 4. Findings highlight the importance of cultural identity, ceremony, storytelling, Elder mentorship, talking circles, land-based learning, relational accountability, and community partnerships in supporting meaningful SEL. The findings also reveal tensions between Indigenous relational approaches to SEL and dominant educational systems shaped by standardization, accountability pressures, and assimilationist schooling structures. The study advances a conceptual model showing how Indigenous-centered SEL, mediated through relational teacher professional development, can support culturally sustaining, healing-centered, equity-oriented, and sovereignty-affirming educational outcomes aligned with SDG 4. In addition to contributing to SEL scholarship, the study offers implications for teacher education, educational policy, and school leadership seeking to advance culturally sustaining and community-responsive educational systems. Full article

Significant gaps exist in survivorship services across the cancer care continuum for Indigenous Peoples in the United States. Despite overcoming overwhelming cancer burden and high mortality risk, Indigenous cancer survivors report lower quality of life compared to non-Indigenous cancer survivors. Using an Indigenous social determinants of health framework, this article shares reflective commentaries from four Indigenous (Haudenosaunee) cancer care professionals who provide insights into the need for traditional Indigenous land-based healing practices among Indigenous cancer survivors, their families, and caregivers. Results suggest that (1) traditional Indigenous healing practices, (2) Indigenous patient navigation services, (3) communities of care, and (4) Indigenous lands and social determinants of health are important factors to support the health and wellbeing of Indigenous cancer survivors. Land-based healing for Indigenous cancer survivors requires further research for future implementation. Full article

Indigenous Peoples continue to steward their Lands through their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), their Laws, and their kinship-driven processes as they have for millennia. There are various factors, including climate change, that threaten Indigenous TEK, Lands, and other processes including intergenerational knowledge transfer. Our team carried out a qualitative research study with Indigenous community members to increase understanding of Dene Peoples’ connections with Land, community TEK protection and stewardship, as well as changes in local environments. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants from the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, from December 2024 to February 2025. Coding and reflexive thematic analysis were carried out using qualitative software. Six themes were characterized from the interview data including: (1) intergenerational TEK are central to our ways of life; (2) despite various factors, our communities continue to share TEK across generations; (3) our collective health and healing are tied to our TEK as well as our values; (4) climate change-related threats and damages are impacting our People and the Land; (5) protecting and governing our own data is crucial for preserving our stories and knowledge; and (6) we need to protect Mother Earth for future generations. This study further demonstrates that the protection of Indigenous TEK is deeply important for the overall health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, the honouring of Indigenous sovereignty and Land rights is essential to transform current climate change approaches. Full article

Global land degradation metrics often rely on trend-based categories that miss cumulative severity, frequently misclassifying degraded areas as stable. To overcome this, we developed a Land Degradation Index (LDI) to assess degradation across Brazil on a 500 m grid for 2001 and 2021. The LDI integrates land-cover change legacy (deforestation age), ecosystem functioning (Gross Primary Productivity), and soil condition (Soil Organic Carbon) into a six-level gradient ranging from conserved to highly degraded. Results reveal that between 2001 and 2021, Brazil lost 50.5 million hectares of conserved land, while intermediate and severe degradation expanded by 53.5 million hectares. Conservation remained concentrated in the Amazon and Pantanal, whereas degradation intensified across the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga, particularly along agricultural frontiers. Furthermore, while Indigenous Lands and Quilombola Territories act as vital conservation cores, the LDI reveals intensified degradation in their immediate surroundings, highlighting the intersection of biophysical decline, land conflicts, and socio-environmental vulnerability. The proposed index advances beyond conventional indicators, such as SDG 15.3.1, by incorporating both the intensity and variation of degradation processes into a unified analytical framework, providing a robust, reproducible framework to support Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets, inform public policies, and guide inclusive territorial planning. Full article

Introduction: This article examines the roles of chiefs and traditional leaders in fostering environmental sustainability, collective responsibility, and accountability in Ghana. It argues that chieftaincy functioned as a key institution for regulating human relationships with land, natural resources, and social order in precolonial governance systems. By grounding environmental stewardship in customary authority, moral obligation, and spiritual legitimacy, chiefs helped sustain communal balance and cohesion. Methods: The article uses a conceptual and historical-interpretive approach to analyze the chieftaincy institution’s normative, political, and spiritual functions in environmental governance. It draws on interpretations of precolonial governance structures, customary practices, and indigenous cosmologies to examine how chiefs exercised authority and shaped collective conduct. Results: The analysis shows that chiefs, with their councils, established and enforced rules, norms, and sanctions that promoted sustainable community life. Their authority included custodianship of land, social order, and sacred obligations. As representatives of ancestors and intermediaries between the human and spiritual realms, chiefs reinforced a moral framework in which environmental harm was seen as both a social offence and a disruption of divine and ancestral balance. The nonpartisan nature of chieftaincy provided a unifying platform for guiding communities toward shared responsibilities, regardless of political differences. Discussion: The article concludes that chieftaincy historically served as an important mechanism for environmental stewardship and ethical governance in Ghana. Chiefs were positioned as custodians of a balanced relationship between people, land, and spiritual order. Revisiting these indigenous governance principles offers insight into how traditional authority can contribute to contemporary discussions on sustainability, accountability, and community-based environmental governance. Full article

This paper examines the resilience of deforestation control policies across land tenure regimes in the Brazilian Legal Amazon, using Brazil’s post-2019 shift in environmental governance policies as a quasi-natural experiment. Combining high-resolution deforestation data with detailed tenure classifications, the analysis evaluates how land governance mediates deforestation outcomes under weakened enforcement and regulatory rollback. Using a difference-in-differences framework with spatial panel data and event-study specifications, the results reveal substantial heterogeneity across tenure regimes. Areas characterized by strong legal recognition—particularly homologated Indigenous territories and strictly protected conservation units—remain comparatively resilient, exhibiting stable or declining deforestation. In contrast, lands with weaker or incomplete property rights, including non-homologated Indigenous territories, agrarian settlements, and untitled public lands, experience significant increases in deforestation. The findings also highlight important within-land category variation, underscoring the role of formal recognition and cadastral validation in shaping environmental outcomes. Overall, the results demonstrate that the durability of deforestation reductions depends critically on the strength of land tenure institutions in the face of changing policy regimes. Full article

This article juxtaposes the Indigenous communitarian feminist concept cuerpo-territorio and the African proverb musha mukadzi drawing on ethnographic research with Zimbabwean women activists in the context of land reform, thereby expanding the scope of both concepts. Our entry point is Zimbabwean women’s struggles for land in the Third Chimurenga, or post-2000 Fast-Track Land Reform Programme. Despite egalitarian promises, land redistribution efforts have favored political elites and men, reinforcing colonial capitalist practices of extraction and accumulation. Our comparative exercise reveals musha mukadzi as a political discourse that enables Indigenous women to reclaim their body–land relationship through struggles for land reform and beyond. In the process, we identify four key resonances between musha mukadzi and cuerpo-territorio, namely, an ontological similarity expressed through Indigenous women’s commitments to and responsibilities for re/generating the network of life; a common appeal to ancestral (feminist) wisdom to enhance ongoing struggle; the political mobilization of the concepts by Indigenous women to seek liberation from patriarchal, neo/colonial oppression; and, their conceptual utility as feminist analytics. Finally, we lay the foundation for further work on the possibilities of transnational feminist solidarity between Indigenous women in Africa and Abya Yala. Full article

Indigenous territories in Amazonia sustain forest cover through the practice of swidden-fallow agriculture, yet declining land availability threatens both the ecological sustainability of this agricultural system and its contributions to community livelihoods. While scholars recognize land scarcity’s potential to drive transformations in shifting cultivation systems, we lack a systematic understanding of how local institutional frameworks shape heterogeneous responses to resource constraints. This study examines how land access mechanisms, distribution dynamics and property regimes among Indigenous communities mediate experiences of and adaptations to land scarcity in the Peruvian Amazon. We conducted a comparative case study of Solidaridad and Tamboruna, two land-scarce Indigenous communities in Peru’s Napo River basin, employing mixed methods including household surveys (n = 74), plot-level assessments, and qualitative interviews with community leaders. Our findings reveal three critical pathways through which institutions mediate scarcity outcomes. First, land access mechanisms determine whether scarce resources produce equitable constraint or acute land inequality. Second, land use intensification emerges not from scarcity alone but from accumulated inequality and household labor capacity, with land accumulated over lifecycles showing stronger associations with management practices than initial endowments. Third, where scarcity manifests as extreme polarization, it precipitates renegotiation of land property norms shaped by Indigenous sociability and moral economies, defying straightforward trajectories toward either resource privatization or collective governance. These results demonstrate that land scarcity produces divergent trajectories mediated by community-specific institutions, with swidden-fallow systems likely diminishing their capacity to sustain forest regeneration in Indigenous communities where scarcity leads to acute land inequality. Rather than uniform solutions, sustainability policy must therefore tailor interventions to local institutional contexts—prioritizing territorial expansion, facilitating communities’ own governance development, and supporting household adaptive capacity to resource scarcity. Full article

Global biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate; however, evidence suggests that this decline occurs far more slowly on Indigenous-owned land. This can be attributed to cultural worldviews in which protecting nature and living in harmony with the environment are fundamental principles, an ethos central to African societies and many other Indigenous communities worldwide. This study examines the role of Vhavenda traditional belief systems, Indigenous knowledge, and cultural practices in the management and conservation of natural resources and the environment. In contemporary Limpopo Province, the Vhavenda clans of northern South Africa remain among the country’s most traditional communities, continuing rituals and practices that have been transmitted across generations. According to the 2022 national census, the area inhabited by the Vhavenda tribe, records the country’s highest concentration of centenarians, a demographic pattern which they attribute to the region’s cultural continuity and relative geographical isolation, which have enabled the preservation of its spiritual and ecological heritage. The research employed an insider ethnographic methodology, collecting data through personal interviews and a focus group discussion. Findings reveal that Indigenous beliefs, knowledge systems, and taboos play a substantial role in promoting sustainable land use. They restrict development on ecologically sensitive landscapes and discourage harmful practices, such as deforestation and cultivation along water bodies. These practices are enforced through complex customary laws, often articulated through prohibitive norms (“thou shalt not”), that safeguard plants, animals, water sources, and other natural resources. The study further illustrates that these prohibitions reflect a nuanced understanding of the biophysical environment, with the most sensitive and vulnerable ecosystems and ecologically important species, including keystone, foundation, and indicator species, receiving protection. Overall, the research shows the importance of recognising, protecting, and integrating Indigenous cultural systems as a critical component of effective biodiversity conservation. Full article

Cultural routes, an important concept in heritage conservation, represent an innovative paradigm that is reshaping the contemporary trajectory of cultural heritage research. The Nanling Corridor satisfies the four core criteria for cultural routes—temporal continuity, spatial distribution, cross-cultural attributes, and specific historical functional roles—and stands as a paradigmatic indigenous cultural route in China. Focusing on the Hunan–Guangdong Ancient Road—a core segment of the Nanling Corridor—this study integrates historical document analysis, representative sample field surveys, and a historical restoration method to systematically classify and characterize the ancient road’s landscape features. The study findings indicate that the Hunan–Guangdong border region within the Nanling area is endowed with a distinctive natural geographical setting and a complex socio-cultural context. Against this background, landscape elements are categorized into two primary clusters: those directly associated with the ancient road and those indirectly linked to it. The directly associated landscapes are further subdivided into four categories: the cross-territorial route, meso-scale hubs enabling land–water transfer, widely distributed micro-scale ancillary facilities, and intangible engineering techniques. The indirectly associated landscapes encompass four dimensions—military defense, population migration, commercial trade, and religious practice—each demonstrating unique landscape attributes while sharing homologous formative mechanisms. This study aims to provide a China-focused research reference for the international theory of cultural routes through the systematic study of the landscapes along the Hunan–Guangdong Ancient Road within the Nanling Corridor. Full article

This paper explores Indigenous Maya practices, ways of sensing, from a personal perspective to provoke discussion on ways to ground mathematics education through land and ancestors. This paper is largely based on my doctoral research work (2018–2022). I adopt a sensory ethnography approach as a viable means to explore Maya Elders’ ways of knowing. Over a period of three years, I walked alongside my Elders and journeyed into a world of mysticism and mathematical wonder. These experiences evoked the questions: “What are the challenges in engaging with this form of knowing as a learner and translator? How can these experiences help us to ground Indigenous forms of mathematical knowing? What insights can we learn via our own Indigenous mathematical heritage?” I argue that an embodied and sensory approach to mathematics through the ways of our ancestors leads to a more meaningful and purposeful mathematics. In this more-than-human context, the predominant view of mathematics as a-human, a-cultural, and a-historical is blurred to reveal mathematics as human and very much grounded in our ways of yearning to make sense of the world around us. Full article

Australian regional communities are actively seeking development pathways that generate local economic value while maintaining environmental and cultural integrity. In this context, GeoRegions have emerged in Australia as a community-led approach for recognising and interpreting geoheritage and associated abiotic–biotic–cultural (ABC) values through geotourism and geoeducation. The GeoRegion concept remains intentionally operationally flexible, but for regional communities encountering a myriad of barriers to sustainable geotourism implementation, any uncertainty for proponents about what constitutes an implementable GeoRegion and what resources and governance arrangements are required for credible and sustained delivery requires resolution. This study developed a stakeholder-informed conceptual model to clarify the practical ‘building blocks’ of GeoRegion establishment and the conditions under which GeoRegions can contribute to sustainability-oriented regional development. Using a design thinking framing and semi-structured interviews with thirteen expert participants, we used semantic discourse analysis to identify the factors perceived as essential to GeoRegion viability and legitimacy. We found that participants expected GeoRegions to be geologically centred, but their perceived value and long-term durability depend on (i) genuine community support and locally legitimate narratives (including Indigenous knowledge where appropriate), (ii) capable champions or coordinating groups, (iii) sustained resourcing for interpretation and visitor readiness, and (iv) a facilitative and not prescriptive role for government. Participants emphasised that GeoRegions should never be constrained by land tenure but cautioned that competing land uses, access logistics and uneven capacity across regions were highly influential in the delineation of feasible boundaries and management intensity. Our GeoRegion model differentiates core inputs (community mandate, knowledge co-production, geoheritage significance, human capacity and funding) from expected outputs (interpretive materials, geoeducation, geotourism, economic development, conservation outcomes and strengthened place identity), and we identify feedback that can either reinforce or erode sustainability outcomes over time. We argue that GeoRegions can provide a low-risk, scalable mechanism for geoconservation-informed regional development, particularly where formal protected-area tools or geopark ambitions are politically or economically constrained, provided that supporting governance and resourcing are treated as essential design requirements. Full article