Indigenous territories encompass up to 22 percent of the world’s land surface and coincide with areas that hold 80 percent of the planet’s biodiversity. It is estimated that as much as 85 percent of the world’s protected areas are inhabited by Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Peoples also represent the majority of the worlds’ cultural diversity. While they make up only 4 per cent of the global population, some 300 million people in total, they comprise of over 5,000 distinct cultures. Of the world’s nearly 7,000 living languages it is estimated that over 4,000 are spoken by Indigenous Peoples. This cultural diversity is under high pressure. Agribusiness, cattle ranching, logging, mining, oil drilling, the creation of large dams, urban development and road construction all impact not only ecosystems but also the peoples who depend on them. Globally, linguistic diversity declined 20% over the period 1970–2005, with indigenous linguistic diversity declining by over 60% in the Americas, 30% in the Pacific (including Australia), and almost 20% in Africa. According to the United Nations, up to 90 per cent of the world’s languages are expected to become extinct or threatened with extinction before the year 2100.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 16:20:17 +0000
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