Reclaiming Roots: The Role of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge in Climate Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract

Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) represents a sophisticated, adaptive, and locally embedded way of understanding ecological systems, developed over millennia of direct interaction between humans and their environments. This knowledge encompasses long-standing observations, practices, and belief systems, integrating metaphysical, spiritual, and ethical dimensions into landscape stewardship and resource management. Unlike fixed knowledge, IEK evolves over generations through learning, transmission, ecological testing, and adaptation to ongoing environmental changes. Despite growing recognition of its value, IEK remains underrepresented in mainstream conservation science, environmental governance, and climate policy. Its temporal depth and contextual specificity are often overlooked in favor of Western science-based approaches, limiting its contribution to ecological management at a time when climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation are accelerating. This study examines the ecological, socio-cultural, and governance contributions of IEK across three major regions: India, the Amazon Basin, and Arctic Indigenous territories. Employing an integrative methodology, including systematic literature review, cross-regional case study comparison, geospatial analysis, and policy evaluation. We find that IEK practices such as rotational grazing, agroforestry, forest gardening, sacred grove conservation, and seed preservation significantly enhance species richness, ecosystem stability, carbon storage, hydrological regulation, and climate resilience. Furthermore, IEK’s community-based governance, long-term ecological monitoring, and holistic indicators complement contemporary ecological science. However, challenges such as biopiracy, insufficient intellectual property rights, extractive research methods, marginalization from policymaking, and erosion of cultural practices persist. The study underscores the need for epistemological and structural reforms in global environmental governance, advocating legal protections for IEK, participatory community-led conservation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and recognition of Indigenous knowledge holders as active partners in climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.