That’s key to solving a litany of natural existential risks.

The nexus of climate change, biodiversity loss, and their associated socio-ecological shifts positions us at a critical crossroads in time. It is clearly too late to prevent global-scale ecosystem change.1 Approximately one million of Earth’s species face extinction risk,2 and over 80% of the ecological processes that underpin ecosystem functioning and the associated support services to people are already affected by climate change.3 The global climate-driven redistribution of species, rapidly warming Arctic, acidifying oceans, and many other impacts both on marine and terrestrial ecosystems point to a future full of uncertainties. The unavoidable reality is that new solutions are needed if we are to survive the major changes under way.

However, humans have survived through multiple ice ages and planetary transformations before—largely as a function of Indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge. Traditional and Indigenous knowledge has informed human societies for hundreds of thousands of years and is embedded and embodied in cultures and communities around the world. Such knowledge is often defined as deep, complex ways of awareness and co-existence with natural ecosystems and is built and adapted over long periods of time. Indigenous knowledge is also very much about the present, rooted in the wisdom of the past—it supports modes of sustainable living in a given place and manifests as oral histories, material and spiritual culture, art, songs, and the presence on traditional homelands. This rich world of Indigenous wisdom and traditional knowledge exemplifies an often-hidden world that still exists across the planet and provides a basis for the well-being and livelihoods of millions of people in communities deeply anchored by their cultures and languages.4

However, despite the fact that nature is overall better preserved within areas controlled by Indigenous Peoples,5 Western science seems to more often than not overlook such successes. Yet clearly, in order to survive the present century, we need to embrace Indigenous knowledge, be intimately guided and led by the knowledge holders, and where appropriate, consider it alongside the best scientific understanding of priorities needed to prevent ecosystem collapse. Respecting and embracing Indigenous rights and knowledge will help us plot a brighter course for the future.