ISTANBUL - On Saturday March 21, 2009 Indigenous representatives from Latin America, Africa, North America, Australia and the Pacific participated in a panel hosted by United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies Traditional Knowledge Initiative (UNU-IAS TKI) and Bigli Istanbul University at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.

Panel presentations outlined the diverse regional experiences in linking Traditional Knowledge with mainstream water management and highlighted the important role that Indigenous Peoples can play in helping to develop sustainable water management alternatives.

Ameyali Ramos Castillo, UNU-IAS TKI, opened the session acknowledging that Traditional Knowledge is a source of great wealth that can contribute to and inform conventional and scientific water management systems and that the aim of the session was to give guidance to policy and decision-makers on the type of sustainable and mutually beneficial arrangements the World Water Forum could aim for.

Professor Ilter Turan, Bigli University, commented on the importance of the water and cultural diversity topic and offered to chair the session.

Moetaua Boaza, elder from the Cook Islands, offered a traditional prayer highlighting his people's respect for water and acknowledging the importance of the Indigenous panel.

The representative for the Indigenous Information Network in Kenya, Rodah Rotino, spoke about the spiritual aspects of water and the important role that water plays in Indigenous culture and traditions, as well as  the challenges of expressing this role within  water policy regimes.  She expressed concern about water quality issues and urged the audience to care for water as a spiritual entity.

Laureano Pietro, Executive Director of the Traditional Knowledge World Bank project, highlighted that technologies based on Traditional Knowledge have the potential to develop solutions with low energy and resource use, which  are able to adapt to growing environmental variability.

Stuart Wuttke, Assembly of First Nations, offered that water is the lifeblood of mother earth and mentioned the role that women play as the custodians of water.  He highlighted the importance of water in First Nation cultures and reflected on the challenges that water developments have had in First Nations communities.  He emphasized that decision-making must reflect the needs of the next 7 generations.

A representative from the local government in the Cook Islands, Paiere Mokoroa, reflected on the importance of western governments recognizing Indigenous governance structures.

Joe Ross, NAILSMA Indigenous Water Policy Group, commented on the challenges of the Water reform process in Australia.  He noted that Indigenous Peoples in Northern Australia were working closely with the Australian National Water Commission to ensure Indigenous Peoples are engaged on equal terms in water decision-making and planning.  He emphasized the importance of working together to address these issues.

Carlos Batzin, a representative from the Central American Indigenous Council, spoke about the link between climate change and water conflicts.  He mentioned that political measures in adaptation and mitigation to climate change are affecting Indigenous systems and causing food and water insecurity.  He challenged the audience to re-visit their consciousness and to move away from the consumerist commodification of water to  one that respects it as a source of life.

Darlene Sanderson, secretariat for the Indigenous World Forum on Water and Peace, highlighted the importance of education and capacity building and the role that elders play as the 'treasurers of knowledge'.  She shared that Indigenous Peoples’ original teachings and laws, through our languages and cultural practices, will provide the essential guides for policy development and the protection of the sacred waters of Mother Earth.

Nolan Hunter, Kimberley Land Council and NAILSMA IWPG member, spoke about the importance of Indigenous participation in water governance.  He then launched the Garma International Indigenous Water Declaration.

Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, noted that in order to have mechanisms that recognize the importance of cultural diversity there need to be mechanisms that recognize the rights of Indigenous Peoples.  He presented the need for an Indigenous Global Forum on Water and Peace and asked for the World Water Council's support in making this possible.

During the panel, the Garma International Indigenous Water Declaration was launched. The declaration was drafted by a group of Indigenous Experts during the Indigenous Water Knowledge, Indigenous Water Interests meeting held in Australia in August 2008.

Key recommendations proposed by the panelists included:

• Recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
• That Indigenous Peoples be fully involved in water policy and decision-making at the local, national and international level, and be given the right to access adequate supplies of water that are safe for human consumption, hygiene and cooking
• Encourage the full participation of Indigenous Peoples in the planning and implementation of each of the UN programs, to find solutions to the crisis of water today, and equitably fund community-based Indigenous language revitalization programs, including research and development, on par with other forms of education.

The UNU-IAS TKI-sponsored Indigenous Delegation also participated in a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-International Hydrological Programme (IHP) roundtable discussion on "Bridging Divides: Promoting cultural diversity as key to water sustainability" and in the launching of a UNESCO-IHP Expert Advisory Group on Water and Cultural diversity policy brief. 

For more information on the panel, please contact Ameyali Ramos Castillo at ramos[@]ias.unu.edu.