Paper short abstract:

Through an analysis of the REDD+ Indigena programme and the myth of Wanamei we are able to see how the Harakmbut come to understand the environment, and how they attempt to influence global discourses on climate change based on an indigenous worldview.

Paper long abstract:

The Harakmbut peoples of South Eastern Peru have been promoting a novel initiative called REDD+ Indigena which extends the existing REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of Conservation, Sustainable Management of Forests and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks) programme proposed by the UN and adopted by member states to reduce climate change. By including what they call indigenous cosmovision or an indigenous world view to the existing REDD programme, the Harakmbut people are able to influence state agendas while promoting the indigenous agenda of land security. They see their proposal as empowering indigenous people and allowing them to be the drivers in reducing climate change through a holistic understanding of the environment - that is, one that includes not only humans. The Harakmbut myth of Wanamei tells of a time of great climate change including uncontrollable fire and offers us the opportunity to analyse the ways in which the Harakmbut people are able to create important links between human action, environment and climate. By pushing for a climate agenda based on indigenous knowledge the Harakmbut people are able to contribute to the discourse on climate change, write their own history and adapt to a system which is not their own whilst attempting to adapt that very same system. The Wanamei myth adds to their understanding of global climate phenomena and helps to frame their responses.