When considering climate change from a local perspective many questions arise. Is climate change recognized as a problem by communities? What are the impacts associated to this phenomenon? And most importantly, what tools do local communities have in order to adapt to climate change? The resulting documents developed by TBI Colombia in the frame of the project If the climate changes, you should change too address these questions and give indications of how to link traditional knowledge to climate change adaptation.
Iris Andoque and Hernando Castro are two recognized indigenous researchers and leaders from the community El Guacamayo in the Araracuara region, in Colombia. They have been studying their traditional knowledge and practices for more than fifteen years in TBI Colombia. Both participated actively in gathering information related to climate change in indigenous communities of the Colombian Amazon and contributed to the dialogue implied in national policy making about adaptation.
Iris belongs to the Andoque ethnic group, which is largely recognized by their expertise in the chagra cultivation system. As a researcher, she has registered in detail the traditional agricultural practices of her people starting from the steps required to make a chagra, how, when and where to plant each variety of seed, what kind of care the cultivation process requires, when each product should be sowed and how to guarantee the recovery of the forest. She has also made a very complete inventory of the local seed diversity and recovered its associated knowledge in a continuous dialogue with elders of her community. In her fieldwork she confirmed a very strong local perception of climate variations in indigenous communities: temperature has increased significantly altering local dynamics and increasing health problems, unexpected floods and draughts are taking place more frequently, the amount and quality of local products has decreased and a general alteration and degradation of social and agricultural practices is witnessed. In spite of the vulnerability all these changes have implied, El Guacamayo has registered several adaptation strategies one of which is the ‘three chagra system’ in the different landscapes to prevent the loss of seeds in face of unexpected floods and draughts. This adaptation practice is described in detail in the publication "The life of the chagra: traditional knowledge and practices for climate change adaptation".
On the other hand, Hernando has become an important referent and guidance in his community thanks to his works about the local climate indicators and the traditional knowledge, the ecological and epidemiologic calendar, the study of land use and types of soils in his region, the traditional rituals and practices that guarantee the maintenance of the seed variety, among others. As a member of CRIMA (middle River Caquetá traditional authorities), today the knowledge generated in the frame of this project developed by TBI Colombia has been used in the decision making processes and in the local life plans.
In order to generate a dialogue about the importance of working adaptation from a local perspective and contribute to national policy making, TBI Colombia organized the events Biological and Cultural Diversity as Keys for the adaptation to climate change and The challenge of including local knowledge in the national adaptation plans. As a result of this events, the policy paper Dialogue, Complementation and Action: Key elements in the dialogue related to the adaptation to climate change and the project infograph that summarizes the main messages in this research process were developed. The main conclusion from the project is that local knowledge and practices should be considered in policy making proccesses about climate change, since they provide community based solutions which are largely viable because they include sustainable use of the local diversity and strengthen the associated cultural practices.
