October 10, 2022The NationalNational

MANY cultures and communities in the world seem to be in a rush to isolate themselves from nature by defining everything as fragmented, bits and pieces that can or cannot be traded, according to a civil society organisation.

Project Sepik coordinator Emmanuel Peni said this in his speech about the wisdom of indigenous guardianship during the 77th United Nation’s General Assembly in New York last month, which coincided with a series of more than 500 events hosted throughout New York and the rest of the world to address climate change crisis
Peni shared his personal experiences which helped him to appreciate being an indigenous guardian of the Sepik River along with other Sepiks, Papua New Guineans, greater Melanesia and all others concerned about the dilapidating state of the world’s environment.
Peni said that in contrast to this, indigenous communities, who are stewards of 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, continue to recognise and acknowledge the world as a complex web of relationships, the inter-connective networks that exist in the flora and fauna, the spirituality in which human beings are only a part of.

“Humans must reflect on this and build their future from this perspective,” he said.
“This Papua New Guinean and Melanesian philosophy expressed through cultural traditions and practices, has brought Papua New Guineans here today through 50,000 years of sustainable development and will help everyone in this world survive the winds of change in the future.

“Stop thinking of us as less educated and under-developed.”