As climate disasters multiply, Indigenous governance offers a way forward

A new report from the nonprofit Land is Life, based on case studies and over 200 survey responses across 46 countries, documents Indigenous communities from Kenya to Ecuador to Nepal actively managing floods, fires, and drought through existing governance structures. In Ecuador's Sarayaku community, longstanding decision-making systems and elders' knowledge of river patterns allowed residents to respond to 2019 flooding without waiting on outside help.

The report argues that what's missing isn't technical knowledge but legal recognition, direct financing, and partnerships that let Indigenous governments actually lead rather than merely being consulted. More than 80 percent of surveyed communities reported facing overlapping disasters at once, and over 90 percent said the frequency is rising, while funding and legal security remain, in the report's words, insufficient.

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