Local knowledge and climate change adaptation on Erub Island,Torres Strait |
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Authors: | Karen Elizabeth McNamara Ross Westoby |
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Affiliation: | 1. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering , James Cook University , Cairns, QLD, Australia;2. Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development , University of the South Pacific , Suva, Fiji Islands karen.e.mcnamara@gmail.com;4. School of Political Science and International Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences , University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD, Australia |
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Abstract: | Local knowledge is a valuable asset in observing and managing environmental change, and importantly, is an unheralded source of adaptive capacity. Torres Strait Islanders are no exception, having used such knowledge to adapt to biophysical changes in their environment for centuries. This article explores the ways in which Islanders have coped in the past with environmental changes to plan for their future. This article focuses on Erub Island in the eastern group of islands in the Torres Strait and charts the adaptation actions or activities employed by respected locals (Elders and Aunties). Drawing on their local knowledge, these actions or activities have included the building of rock walls and wind breaks, using native species to re-vegetate sand cays and the coastal foreshore, applying self-sufficient practices such as fish traps and gardening, reading and respecting country, and transferring this knowledge to the younger generation. In this way, it is the Islanders themselves who detail, based on their local knowledge, what is most appropriate for their community. |
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Keywords: | adaptation capacity climate change Torres Strait traditional knowledge |
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