INTEGRATING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE THROUGH COMMUNITY –LED NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS FOR CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Abstract

ABSTRACT The traditional knowledge-based communities are quietly developing some of the most viable reactions when the climate pressures are escalating daily. Their strategies validate the fact that resilience is generally established at the bottom up by individuals most well acquainted with their local contexts. With the growing climate and environmental crises, community-based Nature-Based Solutions, which incorporates indigenous and local knowledge are an immensely potent way of bolstering resilience, recovering biosphere, and preserving human health. In accordance with the PRISMA protocol, the structured search was carried out in the Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar with the specific search keywords connected to NbS, traditional ecological knowledge, and socio-ecological outcomes. Thematic synthesis was used to analyse 71 peer-reviewed studies to determine the co-benefits of community-driven interventions to mitigate climate-related health risks, food security, and biodiversity conservation. The results showed that NbS are eco-health infrastructures that could restore ecosystems besides enhancing civic well-being through processes like control of vectors in restored wetlands, heat reduction, urban greening and purification of the air and water by utilizing the practices of native land-based management. Indigenous phytoremediation, application of plant-basedcoagulants, and indigenous farming systems are all indicative of successful and low-cost methods of controlling pollution and restoring soil. Likewise, the conservation ethics and resilience are backed by indigenous governance systems. Nepal, Namibia and Philippine adaptive co-management models demonstrate that incorporation of institutional and traditional knowledge in collaborating towards improved ecosystem outcomes. The discussion has found that indigenous knowledge and participatory governance are significant to NbS structures that can improve socio-ecological resilience. The future policies ought to focus on local capacity building, cross-sectoral partnership to build community-led NbS to be climate-health resilient.