Official Statement
Date: February 28, 2026 From: ClimateWatch Policy Advocacy Division Re: Integration of Indigenous Knowledge in National Adaptation Plans
ClimateWatch welcomes the Government of Pakistan's decision to initiate a comprehensive review of its National Adaptation Plan (NAP). We submit this statement to formally recommend the systematic integration of indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into the revised NAP framework.
Rationale
Pakistan's mountain communities — particularly in Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir — possess generational knowledge of:
- Seasonal weather prediction through natural indicators (phenological observations)
- Water management techniques refined over centuries of glacial agriculture
- Biodiversity conservation through customary land-use practices
- Disaster preparedness through oral histories of flood, avalanche, and landslide events
This knowledge is not anecdotal. Peer-reviewed research published in Mountain Research and Development and Climate and Development journals has validated the predictive accuracy of several traditional weather indicators used by Wakhi and Burushaski communities.
Recommendations
- Establish a National TEK Registry to document and preserve indigenous climate knowledge before it is lost to generational displacement.
- Mandate community consultation protocols in all NAP sub-national planning processes.
- Allocate dedicated funding for TEK-integration pilot projects in climate-vulnerable districts.
- Create academic-community partnerships between universities and indigenous knowledge holders.
Signatory
Shayan Ali Founder & Executive Director, ClimateWatch NCCB-Affiliated since 2007