Armchair Discussion on Key Issues Related to Cumulative Effects

Barry Wilson, Dr Suzanne Fluharty, Nicole Kapell

2020

English

Yurok Reservation, California, USA

Presentation from Dr Suzanne Fluharty on the Yurok Tribe Environmental Program which won a UN award for their work on climate change issues and building in cumulative effects assessment. Explains the chain reaction of land use (extractive, single resource) leading to environmental impacts by releasing contaminants into the environment.

The longer you’re exposed to the environment, the higher the dose of contaminants to community (which in turn affects ways of life, cultural practices, ceremony). To mitigate the impacts, the Yurok Tribe are practicing wholistic resource stewardship and have taken back control of jurisdiction, and self-determination to manage the health and welfare of their people.

Presentation from Barry Wilson on wholistic perspective, meaningful time and space, and climate change. Explains the prosperity relationship as a dependent relationship upon which the economy is reliant on people who are in turn reliant on the environment – “environment nourishes people who create economies”. As the economy grows it stresses the environment and takes up more space than the environment can sustainably provide. We need to focus on taking care of the most important system, our environment. To do so it is recommended to focus on location (the watersheds), and meaningful baseline time (pre-contact).

Presentation from Nicole Kapell on developing a CEAM Framework, the issues encountered, the benefits and importance of creating a framework, and the importance in grounding it in the knowledge of Indigenous people and holistic goals (not just ecosystem based values).

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