$44 trillion.
More than half of global GDP relies on nature.
And yet, economic growth is occurring at a catastrophic cost to biodiversity and ecosystems. To humans. Almost 20% of the Amazon forest has been lost. Wildlife populations have disappeared by an average of 69% in the past 50 years.
Is it time to restore nature? Rethink capitalism and corporates? Revive through tech?
The answer for Peter Seligmann, veteran conservationist, is to learn from Indigenous peoples – and reimagine the human-nature relationship.
He points to the Sungai Utik of Borneo. The Inuit of Greenland. The Sarayaku people in Ecuadorian Amazon. The native peoples of America. “Many indigenous peoples commit their lives to their traditional lands and waters through a foundational belief in reciprocity – the way of life centered in mutual exchange and sharing among all beings, seen and unseen, and the Earth,” he explains. In Borneo, for instance, the Sungai Utiks reside in a 10,000-hectare tract of forest that houses several critically endangered species. Their symbiotic way of living sequesters an estimated 1.44 million tons of carbon.
Seligmann believes that Indigenous ways and practices can be the necessary shield our natural habitats need. In 2017, he co-founded Nia Tero, which seeks to place Indigenous peoples at the forefront of a collective ecological mission. Even after 500 years of colonisation and displacement, they inhabit, or shepherd, nearly 40% of the earth. And, as a 2021 UN analysis reveals, most of these regions are in good ecological condition and already conserved. And yet, the Indigenous have never been given due regard or credit in conservation efforts.
Seligmann’s is a 40-year legacy of serious, world-changing environmentalism. Land steward at The Nature Conservancy. Director of California Nature Conservancy. Co-founder, CEO, and now Chairman of Conservation International (CI) – a lighthouse of activism to protect nature and habitats. At CI, Seligmann says he always took a “head in the sky, feet in the mud” approach. Carving out protected areas of biodiversity. Matching community efforts on the field with policy changes on a global level. Bringing governments, philanthropists, corporate funders, and environmental activists to the same table.
Under his new venture, too, Seligmann is hoping to continue champion global change. Through multiple means – technological, policy, advocacy. For instance, Nia Tero is working with Indigenous partners and technologists to build a first-of-its-kind land monitoring digital platform that would help Indigenous population to map, monitor, and protect their habitat, in real time. Its Ocean Kinship endeavour seeks to establish legal standing for oceans, rivers, and mountains within national legal systems. It’s contributing towards the global goal of conserving 30% of the earth’s land and sea through protected areas by 2030 – for which Indigenous guardianship will need to be enforced, as well as financially and politically empowered to withstand constant corporate and governmental encroachment.
At SYNAPSE, Peter Seligmann will unpack why it boils down to relationships – between humans and nature. Between climate, communities, and corporates. Expand on his vision with Nia Tero. Technological breakthroughs to secure indigenous traditions. Policy guardrails against corporate invasion. Has our careless rampage of the natural ecosystems gone too far, or can we find our way back to the harmony we once shared with this earth?
