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.
To support climate action that addresses adaptation and disaster preparation, this project supports Tribes and Native-led organizations in Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions through traditional knowledge.
With funding support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund, 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:
In August 2024 six grants of $200,000 were awarded to support Native community-based projects that will build adaptive capacity and disaster preparation through the application of traditional knowledge and Native stewardship.
To increase investment in Native stewardship and climate action that will promote biodiversity and restore ecosystem health, in November 2025, First Nations created a project extension to support tribes and Native organizations Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions 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 to tribes in the region 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.
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 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 will support 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 (Tribe) natural resources through low-tech process-based restoration that enhances riverine processes, expands riparian habitat, reduce nonpoint source pollution, improve water quality and strengthen 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.
