The Role of Indigenous People in Environmental Governance with Special Reference to United Nation’s REDD+ Initiative in Northeast India

Abstract

In most of the indigenous societies, the people believe that human and nature are deeply connected and inter-dependent, almost like kin to one another. Across the world, indigenous people have often been regarded as exemplars of environmentally sustainable living. The impact of their subsistence livelihoods was apparently kept in check by customary laws to ensure they lived by the laws of nature. A lot of the answers to today’s environmental problems lie in these traditions. Due to their unique traditions and laws, these marginalized groups are gaining recognition as vital stewards of our environment and depleting resources; and also gaining a role in environmental governance. The United Nations’ pioneering report, Our Common Future, proclaimed that: “these communities are the repositories of vast accumulations of traditional knowledge and experience, [and] larger society … could learn a great deal from their traditional skills in sustainably managing very complex ecological systems” This proclamation by the United Nations, recognised the role of indigenous people in environmental management and governance at an international level.