We reviewed and analyzed the #academic #literature to answer the following questions: How have #Indigenous peoples participated in #environmentalmonitoring, and how has their #participation influenced #monitoring #objectives, #indicators, #methods, and #monitoring #outcomes?
Findings: 1. The literature most often characterized participation as data collection;
2. Higher degrees of participation and power held by Indigenous peoples in environmental monitoring leads to initiatives that have different objectives, indicators, and outcomes than those with heavier involvement of external groups;
3. A key challenge of conducting effective monitoring that leverages both Indigenous knowledge systems and science is the power imbalances that uncouple Indigenous monitoring efforts from management.
We encourage future initiatives to carefully consider the ways in which power and governance shape their programs and the ability of their monitoring to lead to meaningful management actions.
