Outreach and Engagement for the Makah Tribe's Climate Adaptation Plan

The Makah Tribe views climate change as one of the biggest threats to their natural resources and the rich and unique biodiversity of their coastal lands and waters, their livelihoods, economy, and culture. As part of climate... [ view full abstract ]

The Makah Tribe views climate change as one of the biggest threats to their natural resources and the rich and unique biodiversity of their coastal lands and waters, their livelihoods, economy, and culture. As part of climate adaptation and planning work to effectively manage these resources, the Makah Tribal Council and tribal natural resource managers prioritized early community outreach and engagement efforts in order to accomplish three goals: continually update and inform the tribal community about the Tribe’s climate adaptation efforts; gather community input and priorities to inform the Makah Climate Adaptation Plan; and provide a series of educational events to engage the tribal community about projected climate change impacts to our resources. At our first community climate event, we provided an overview of the Makah Tribe’s Climate Vulnerability Assessment and administered an initial climate survey that gathered information regarding community members’ observed environmental changes, knowledge about climate change and impacts, and concerns and priorities to include in the Tribe’s adaptation plan. The existence and well-being of the Makah people have always been closely tied to our relationship with the environment, especially the ocean, which provides bountiful natural resources and holds spiritual significance. Preliminary results of the community priorities survey prioritized concerns about a changing ocean and impacts of climate change on marine resources. This presentation presents our framework for incorporating community engagement in climate adaptation planning, the preliminary results of our community survey, and lays out the next steps that the Makah Tribe is pursuing towards climate adaptation planning.