Pueblos indígenas y cambio climático: el caso de la Amazonía colombiana

Abstract

This article discusses the perceptions of indigenous peoples of the Colombian Amazon of climate changes during the last ten years, and the direct effects of those changes on indigenous livelihood. In the first section, changes in temperature and seasonality are presented and contrasted with indigenous traditional knowledge on the seasonal ecological calendar. In the next section, the main direct effects of these changes on indigenous livelihood are presented, mainly on horticulture, availability of fish and human health. In addition, these effects are differentiated according to gender and age groups, and according to the degree of territorial autonomy of different indigenous groups. With this information, the strategies and adaptations of indigenous peoples to cope with these changes are discussed. We show, finally, that the impact of global climate change in this region should be assessed together with other social changes affecting it.