The Forgotten Connections: Indigenous Knowledge, Sacred Sites and Climate Change Resilience in Africa

Tuesday 8th November
6.30pm wine and light buffet at Gaia House, 18 Well Walk, Hampstead, NW3 1LD. Talk begins at 7.30pm at Burgh House (opposite Gaia House, NW3 1LT)

Gathuru Mburu, coordinator of the African Biodiversity Network (ABN), will speak about the network's journey over the last decade, to evolve a holistic approach to building resilience with communities across Africa.

Whilst the western media and "development" thinking perpetuate an image of Africa's poverty, and a continent unable to help itself; the work of the ABN supports another image altogether. The ABN has been finding innovative ways to work with communities in order to revive - and instil new confidence - in local indigenous knowledge, and thus enable Africa's true identity to re-emerge. Reflecting on this approach, Mburu will talk about the different strategies that have evolved in response to growing climate instability, landgrabbing, and now mining on a huge scale across Africa.

Working with elders and their communities, ABN has identified the destruction of sacred natural sites such as forests, as one of the most critical challenges facing communities and their traditional practices. These sites are essential for maintaining the resilience of ecosystems; they play a vital role in stabilising local climate patterns; and they are central for the governance and livelihood systems of local communities. ABN is now assisting local custodians to protect their sacred sites by developing legal principles based on their recognition of the Earth as the primary source of law; and by supporting legal cases to stop sacred sites violations. The growing mining epidemic in Africa has also resulted in custodians calling for sacred sites networks to be recognised as "No Go Zones".

Mburu will show how, by weaving back these different elements, communities are able to take the lead in re-establishing greater cohesion, resilience and confidence to face their challenges.

Find out more about Mburu and his work with the Institute for Culture & Ecology, Kenya by watching our much celebrated film, The Kamburu Story.