Cultural Burning as a Climate Adaptation Strategy

There is increasing and broad recognition of the importance of Indigenous and local knowledge in leading climate change adaptation. Indigenous peoples and nations are on the front lines of climate change impacts, yet they are also leading the way in many innovative adaptation actions, such as traditional or cultural burning practices - a form of low-intensity understory-burning that promotes ecosystem health and builds cultural resilience.

The overarching goal of this project is to better understand and establish traditional burning as a robust adaptation strategy, based on the practice’s own merits and/or as a complementary approach to other conventional ecosystem restoration practices. Focusing on central California, this project aims to develop (1) a series of collaborative traditional burning efforts, (2) an evaluation of preliminary sociopolitical and ecological outcomes from the burning, (3) a broader synthesis of outcomes that draws upon recent burning efforts by the same team of practitioners, and (4) documentation of lessons learned and best practices. This project advances partnerships between the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC) and tribal nations and communities, in addition to strengthening relationships between tribal nations and communities that apply the practice as a cultural tradition.