Native communities are on the front lines of climate change, experiencing extreme weather, rising sea levels, extended drought, warming temperatures, and melting permafrost. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report demonstrates that climate change affects Indigenous peoples more severely and earlier than other populations. Many Native communities are in remote and coastal locations, which increases their vulnerability to flooding and wildfire. Furthermore, subsistence and cultural practices rely on healthy ecosystems that are stewarded by Native peoples.
With funding support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund, and other anonymous and individual donors, First Nations is providing grants and technical assistance to tribes and Native-led organizations working toward climate adaptation and disaster preparation using nature-based solutions based on traditional knowledge. Nature-based solutions rely on animals, plants, and the environment to protect and restore ecosystems and support human well-being and local biodiversity.
Strategies rooted in traditional knowledge and nature-based solutions demonstrate innovative ways to address human-caused climate change on ecological, economic, cultural, and social systems. Examples include:
Funding History
August 2024. Six grants of $200,000 were awarded to support Native community-based projects building adaptive capacity and disaster preparation through the application of traditional knowledge and Native stewardship.
November 2025 – Colorado River Basin. To increase investment in Native stewardship and climate action that will promote biodiversity and restore ecosystem health, First Nations extended the project to support tribes and Native organizations in the Colorado River Basin . The Colorado River Basin, spanning across seven southwest states, is home to 30 federally recognized tribes that collectively hold rights to approximately 25% of the basin’s annual water supply. This water is vital for ceremony, agriculture and economic development, and domestic use. With funding support from Walton Family Foundation and First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund, First Nations awarded seven grants of $75,000 to build adaptive capacity and advance community-based watershed restoration efforts across these storied lands.
May 2026 – Beaver Restoration. The beaver is central to freshwater ecosystem health, ceremony, and tribal identity, and restoring the beaver to tribal landscapes upholds stewardship responsibilities to land and relatives. First Nations extended the project to support tribes and Native-led organizations in building adaptive capacity through beaver restoration. In partnership with the Broad Reach Foundation, First Nations awarded grants of $85,000, and is providing ongoing technical assistance and peer networking opportunities.
Grantees and other select community partners are also participating in First Nations’ Tribal Beaver Community of Practice to develop a tribal beaver restoration network. Together, they will grow and support the planning, restoration, and management of beaver in wetland ecosystems, and work to implement systemic and policy changes to improve watershed health, reduce wildfire risk, and increase biodiversity.
This project will restore wetland ecosystems while expanding community understanding of the role beavers play in watershed health. This project will also improve water quality and increase water retention on the landscape, and address landowner concerns about coexistence-based beaver management.
This Beaver Pond Levelers project will restore and conserve wetland and riparian habitats, strengthen biodiversity, and support sustainable beaver populations. The project promotes long-term coexistence between humans and beavers through non-lethal management practices.
This project will restore healthy watershed function, reduce human–wildlife conflict, and strengthen ecological resilience across the Blackfeet Reservation. The project uses beavers as a natural tool for habitat restoration while balancing the need for landowners and elders.
This project will support the Cowlitz Tribe's beaver relocation and restoration program by building programmatic capacity to monitor beaver activity at relocation sites. This project will support the development of novel monitoring methods and provide critical data to determine relocation success.
This project will support the Pueblo of Santa Clara's planning efforts to develop a wildlife management plan and strategy that includes beaver. This project will increase the capacity of the Forestry Department to restore healthy beaver populations to lands impacted by the Conchas Wildfire.
This project will build capacity towards better tribal management of reintroduced beavers (Castor Canadensis) on Tule River Tribal land.
This project will support the Pueblo of Zuni's planning efforts to develop tribal policies around beaver relocation and update the Wildlife Management plan to incorporate beaver. This project will also increase community education on co-existence through public workshops and forums.
This project will restore critical spawning habitat for walleye - an ecocultural species for the Sokaogon Chippewa Community - in Franklin Lake. A man-made rock reef will be installed on the bed of Franklin Lake to improve the quality of walleye spawning habitat during normal and low-water levels.
This project will grow adaptive capacity to increase civic action to plant the rain to retain water within the watershed to minimize erosion, restore native vegetation/habitats, and increase soil moisture, to drive action toward preparing for rising temperatures within the Colorado River Basin.
This project supports the restoration of willows, mesquite and cottonwood vegetation in riparian areas to reduce hazardous fuels and erosion that pose wildfire threats in recreation areas, increase habitat conservation, and enhance water quality.
The project supports information gathering, planning, and decision making by tribal leaders and experts with the ultimate goals of setting water quality standards and outlining a collaborative water monitoring program for Bears Ears National Monument.
The project supports the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s natural resources through low-tech, process-based restoration that enhances riverine processes, expands riparian habitat, reduces nonpoint source pollution, improve water quality, and strengthens tribal climate resiliency.
This project restores native riparian vegetation, removes invasive species, and improves habitat for plants, wildlife, and aquatic species in and around Pasture Canyon Reservoir to strengthen ecological health, cultural use, and long-term watershed resilience.
This project aims to restore ecological balance within the Colorado River Basin by supporting the strategic removal of feral equids. This removal will prevent further erosion, reestablish native habitat, eliminate competition for native species, and improve watershed health.
The Osage Nation
The project will support the increase of the pollinator habitat on Osage Nation land, leverage existing staff through apiary management training, and create a more sustainable tallgrass prairie ecosystem to aid in sound bison management, prevent erosion, and become more adaptable to changes in climate.
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
This project will create a new Tribal Climate Adaptation Plan (TCAP) to increase the community's use of green infrastructure, retain culturally-significant natural resources and leverage nature-based solutions in a changing climate.
Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation
The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe will utilize these grant funds to further food sovereignty and TEK practices of land management for the Tribe. The projects will protect and promote resilient cultural use and recreational areas and ensure ability to access these locations as the climate changes.
Native Hawaiian
This project aims to leverage traditional agroecological practices to restore coastal wetlands. By revitalizing degraded wetlands, the project increases flood control, water management, and habitat. Through restoration efforts and community engagement, the project aims to create an ecosystem that is more resilient to natural disasters and improves overall community well-being.
