Abstract
The Republic of Vanuatu is a nation that is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of global climate change. It is a country with deep-rooted cultural practices, including customary (Kastom) Law that, throughout history, has protected the sustainability of its people, land, flora, fauna, rivers and oceans. This paper will describe the findings of a 2011 study conducted by Dr Kirsten Davies, involving 444 participants from the Island of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. A whole-of-community engagement methodology, known as Intergenerational Democracy, developed by the author, was adopted to capture snapshots of human-environmental relationships through the voices of children through to the elderly. The study was designed to assist a deeper understanding of community perceptions and observations pertaining to the impacts of climate change. As the Espiritu Santo community is becoming increasingly urbanised and less dependent on subsistence practices, valuable lessons can be learnt from these relational shifts. Focusing on adaptation, this paper discusses these shifts in a global context, as urbanised, transient communities become increasingly separated from the places of their ancestors. As the planet encounters the impacts of climate change, much can be learnt from the people of Vanuatu and their environmental and cultural connections.
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Notes
- 1.
Threats to human survival resulting from the impacts of GCC on ecosystems include: changing patterns of disease, water and food insecurity, extreme climatic events, coastal erosion and flooding, world famines and population migration (Costello et al. 2009).
- 2.
Chapter 8of the Constitution is concerned with the Justice System. It describes how the Judicial Service Commission includes a representative of the National Council of Chiefs and that “Parliament shall provide for the establishment of village or island courts with jurisdiction over customary and other matters and shall provide for the role of chiefs in such courts.” (Art. 52). Chapter 12 of the Constitution is dedicated to land ownership and is particularly critical to the role of Traditional Law. Article 73 states “All land in the Republic of Vanuatu belongs to the Indigenous custom owners and their descendants.” And “The rules of custom shall form the basis of ownership and use of land in the Republic of Vanuatu” (Art. 74).
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to the people of Espiritu Santo for their investment in this project, with special mention to: High Chief of Sanma Council of Chiefs (Supenatavuitano Council of Chiefs) Chief Charlie Rani, Chief Martino Nev Paramount Chief of Port Olry and The Chief of Mantantas, Rex Thomas Tandak, Carol Grosskopf, Courtney Angus, Ketty Napwatt, Leo Charlington, Leisarur Wolem, Julia Callachor, Xiaoming Ma, Leo Charlington, Leonie Woods and Laura Hugh. Thank you also to the Australian Government for funding the project through the Australia Research Award Program.
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Davies, K. (2015). Kastom, Climate Change and Intergenerational Democracy: Experiences from Vanuatu. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Climate Change in the Asia-Pacific Region. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14938-7_4
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