EQUALITY
REVIVING INDIGENOUS HERITAGE THROUGH CONSERVATION
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
When visiting destinations where Indigenous cultures have been overlooked, make a meaningful impact by choosing attractions that help revive traditional knowledge and practices. In Greater Palm Springs, California, Native American youth are reconnecting with their culture and the land through a program supported by tourism-related businesses.
What's
changing
In many countries, Indigenous groups have often been excluded from land management and conservation despite possessing “traditional ecological knowledge,” which is the evolving knowledge acquired by Indigenous and local peoples over hundreds of years through direct contact with the environment. Visitor attractions dedicated to environmental causes are joining collaborative programs that reconnect Indigenous residents with their ancestral lands and bring them into conservation efforts.
What's already
possible
In Greater Palm Springs, The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Tribe and Outward Bound Adventures have teamed up to launch a program for Indigenous youth to explore their roots in the Coachella Valley.
Seizing
the opportunity
Established in 2022, the “Torres Martinez Youth Environmental Ambassador” Program introduces Native American youth aged 15 to 26 to the outdoors through hands-on conservation projects that demonstrate how traditional ecological knowledge and science can protect their ancestral homelands. This 11-month program begins a pathway to careers in conservation. Educators with deep knowledge of how the original inhabitants of the Coachella Valley interacted with the environment join the young people on hikes, overnight backpacking trips and other projects to share their expertise and cultural insights. The groups also propagate and plant seedlings, and suggest improvements for messaging and interpretation at the Cahuilla Gardens area of the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens.
Standout
tactic
Participants are provided a financial incentive to participate in organized outdoor activities.
How
it helps
Two cohorts have successfully completed the program with one participant now hired by the Living Desert. The program’s 22 sessions have introduced the outdoors to 26 youth who might not have had the opportunity otherwise.
Diving
deeper
How can programs like this offer value and maintain interest over multiple years in order to attract and retain participants?
Increasing
impact
With diversified support from public and private sources, the program could expand its reach, offering more Native American youth opportunities to connect with their ancestral lands and culture, ultimately amplifying its positive effects on both the participants and the environment.
Traveling
better
Travel is inherently carbon intensive. Whether you are taking a mini-break or an annual vacation, consider ways to minimize your impact by staying longer in one place, reconsidering how you travel to the destination, and supporting businesses that are working to make their community and the world a better place.
