Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Indigenous people’s rights have been captured in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a bid to achieve Agenda 2030. However, only four out of the 230 indicators are directly related to indigenous people’s rights (minority groups inclusive). This does not raise much hope especially within the context of climate change. My study explores the challenges that indigenous communities face due to climatic and non-climatic stressors and how this affects their livelihood options and environmental sustainability. A mixed method approach was used, triangulating household surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions conducted with participants above 18 years. My study indicates that the indigenous people in the Baka communities’ faces broad challenges from inadequate participation in taking decisions, to poor governance that directly affects their livelihoods. In their quest to survive, their coping responses often have not yielded sustainable results to the environment. My study therefore is grounded on the premise that governments and organizations still must do more with respect to environmental sustainability. For policies to be well integrated within marginalized communities whose livelihoods are dependent on natural resources, there is need to involve them in every discussion on how management of resources can provide environmental sustainability. To push forward with the agenda of environmental sustainability, there is need to understand the ideologies, culture, context, and livelihoods of indigenous people before making misplaced development interventions that are not context-specific.