Indigenous tribes around the world may be among the first to feel the impacts of a changing climate. Friday's 2 PM panel on "Climate Change: Indigenous Peoples at the Frontlines" will look at tribes in the southwestern U.S., Alaska, and the Brazilian Amazon. Margaret Hiza Redsteer of the U.S. Geological Survey, Sarah James of the Neet’sai Gwich’in, Arctic Village, and Scott Wallace, author of Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes will discuss the changes these "place-based peoples" are seeing in their environment, and the unique adaptation strategies they might be able to offer.
In this video from the New Security Beat, Wallace, frequent contributor to National Geographic and former public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, talks about his expedition through Brazil's Javari Valley Indigenous Land, home to the fleicheros, or "People of the Arrow," who live in complete isolation from the rest of the world. By protecting these people, the Brazilian government is also protecting thousands, if not millions, of acres of virgin rainforest, says Wallace, creating a mutually beneficial intersection between human rights and environmental conservation.
