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Indigenous-led reindeer herding projects use co‑production and remote sensing to monitor Arctic pasture decline
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Summary
Speakers at Science Day described projects that combine Indigenous observational knowledge and satellite data to track pasture degradation, call for binding agreements with Indigenous communities before projects start, and urge funding reforms to support transdisciplinary research.
Mary Blair, associate director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, described Indigenous‑led research that combines long‑term herders’ observations with satellite remote sensing to monitor pasture condition and inform reindeer herding resilience in the Arctic.
“Life on Earth is at a tipping point,” Blair told the Science Day audience, citing the rapid climate impacts that threaten mobile pastoralist livelihoods and northern ecosystems. She said project partners include the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry and that the work is funded by the Global Environment Facility and the UN Environment Programme; a complementary project was supported by NASA.
Blair said the research flips the usual relationship between Western science and Indigenous knowledge by putting Indigenous needs and knowledge at the forefront. The approach seeks to strengthen Indigenous youth leadership, build baseline datasets of pastoralist knowledge, and use remote sensing to detect pasture degradation so herders can adapt to change.
Speakers and participants highlighted practical obstacles to wider adoption of this model. Blair and others emphasized persistent barriers: institutional incentives that prioritize disciplinary publications over transdisciplinary, engaged work; lack of funding mechanisms that require and pay for co‑production; and weak safeguards for Indigenous data sovereignty.
Blair recommended creating legally binding agreements with Indigenous communities before starting research or industrial projects in their territories and urged development of ethical frameworks based on reciprocity and ongoing consent. She pointed listeners to the CARE principles for Indigenous data sovereignty and invited participants to a September workshop in Norway on transdisciplinary science and implementation.
Audience members including indigenous and early‑career researchers asked about finance and sustained engagement. Blair recommended Indigenous‑led projects where possible and, where not, iterative, negotiated partnerships that include clear follow‑up and capacity building.
The case was presented as an example of how co‑production can make science more applicable to SDG implementation in regions where climate impacts and land pressures are acute.
