“Nature doesn’t need protection,” says Bhavna Choudhury, founder of The Indegenous, a nonprofit organisation leading the charge to revive and preserve ancestral knowledge that holds the key to sustainable solutions for our planet’s future.
As the world grapples with the climate crisis, the wisdom of indigenous communities, often marginalised, is becoming an invaluable resource. Through advocacy, capacity building, and knowledge sharing, The Indegenous empowers Indigenous communities worldwide, ensuring their voices are heard on critical global platforms, such as the UNFCCC.
“Planet is becoming unliveable”
“The planet is becoming unliveable for humans, and the conversation should be about how we should be saving ourselves, not nature. Indigenous peoples understand this reality since we face climate disasters on a regular basis.”
“Indigenous beliefs are based around ancestral and nature worship,” adds Choudhury. “All the stories I grew up with were about how above all, Mother Nature takes precedence.” She recalls an old story from Assam, where the indigenous people believe that Maa Kamakhya, the goddess of the Kamakhya Temple, will one day submerge under water, bringing the entire region—including the city of Guwahati—under the sea. “It’s a rather daunting warning about how climate crises probably aren’t a new phenomenon,” she reflects.
Choudhury’s vision
For Choudhury, these traditional tales are more than folklore—they are a profound reminder of the deep connection between humans and nature.
Choudhury’s vision was born from a deep concern about the diminishing relevance of “nature-based solutions” and “traditional ecological knowledge” in a rapidly globalising world. “The idea was to document the works of our ancestors that have been passed down traditionally and to share our rich heritage on the Internet,” she explains.
Choudhury, who grew up surrounded by indigenous traditions, believes that the value of oral knowledge—passed down through generations and embedded in local languages—is steadily being lost. “And with that, so does that knowledge base,” she explains. “I wanted to change that narrative.”
NGO’s Kaziranga Biodiversity Park project
One of the NGO’s notable initiatives is a community-led project at Kaziranga Biodiversity Park, where the organisation has documented 337 varieties of indigenous rice and cultivated a living garden of medicinal plants. Before her involvement, knowledge of these valuable resources was little known. This effort exemplifies the organisation’s broader mission to fill the gaps where governments have failed, providing essential advocacy and documentation of Indigenous cultures and practices.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and India Currents).
