Gleb Raygorodetsky

An excerpt from two chapters of the newly published The Archipelago of Hope (2017) by Gleb Raygorodetsky, an enlightening global journey revealing how the inextricable links between Indigenous cultures and their territories are the foundation for climate change resilience around the world. The Archipelago of Hope: Wisdom and Resilience from the Edge of Climate Change

The Nenets, reindeer herders in Russia’s Arctic, face modern obstacles in their long journey: climate change and a giant natural gas field. They Migrate 800 Miles a Year. Now It’s Getting Tougher.| National Geographic, October 2017

The Nenets, indigenous reindeer herders in the Russian Arctic, face two modern obstacles on their long annual migration: climate change and a giant natural gas field. Life on the Edge | National Geographic Magazine · Sep 25, 2017

Ecuador’s Sápara people are developing strategies to fend off the dual threats of oil development and climate change. Pachamama’s Blood | Earth Island Journal · Aug 31, 2017

Villagers in Hin Lad Nai, Thailand, routinely use fire to clear fields between planting cycles. The United Nations once called this a “backward type of agricultural practice,” but the forest remains healthy for the villagers.  These Farmers Slash and Burn Forests—But in a Good Way | National Geographic News · Mar 8, 2016

The thaw is escalating, but the race to tap resources from the top of the world remains brutal. (I contributed to the Russian portion of this important story by Joel K. Bourne.) In the Arctic’s Cold Rush, There Are No Easy Profits | National Geographic Magazine · Feb 16, 2016

“Our climate change work is about … creating a better way of doing things in the long run.” Eli Enns, as quoted in the article. Everything Is Connected: Tla-o-qui-aht People and Climate Change | Cultural Survival Quarterly · Mar 5, 2015

As the war between Russia and Ukraine rages on, it places escalating pressure on the indigenous peoples of Eurasia, especially in Russia, diminishing the opportunities for them to meet and discuss their peaceful traditions of living off the land and water. For local communities and indigenous people on both sides of the divide, it is

“It’s not that we have a philosophical difference with the fossil fuel industry,” says Bill McKibben1 the founder of 350.org2, a non-profit organization that is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis, “it’s that their business model is destroying the planet.” The business models, however, do not appear out of thin air,