9 August 2025 marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a time to honour the knowledge, cultures, and resilience of Indigenous communities across the globe.

With an estimated 476 million Indigenous Peoples living in over 90 countries, speaking the vast majority of the world’s 7,000 languages and representing over 5,000 cultures, their diversity is a testament to humanity’s rich and complex history.

Yet, despite this incredible contribution to our global heritage, Indigenous Peoples are among the world’s most marginalized. They make up less than 6% of the global population, but account for at least 15% of the poorest. They own, occupy or use roughly 22% of the world’s land, much of which overlaps with areas of the richest biodiversity. And as the climate, ecological, and technological crises converge, Indigenous voices are more critical than ever.

Indigenous Ocean Stewards

Among the many roles Indigenous Peoples hold, one of the most vital today is that of ocean stewards. However, according to the World Resources Institute “there’s a longstanding legacy of inequitable distribution of ocean management strategies’ benefits and opportunities”. Research shows Indigenous and local communities are often disadvantaged, with policies denying their fishing rights, restricting their access to coastal areas due to growing tourism and economic development, and excluding them from ocean decision-making. 

Te Reo o Te Moana: The Voice of the Ocean

Yet, the tide is turning. During the recent People of the Ocean session on World Ocean Day, which opened the UN Ocean Conference, Indigenous leaders, ocean champions, and knowledge holders from across the Pacific came together to launch Te Reo o Te Moana — The Voice of the Ocean — a deeply rooted Call to Action to protect Te Moana Nui, the vast and sacred Pacific Ocean.

Grounded in ancestral knowledge and community leadership, the Call affirms what Pacific peoples have long known: the ocean is not a resource to be managed, but an ancestor to be respected and cared for. Te Moana is home, history, culture and identity — and protecting it is a sacred responsibility.

The Call to Action outlines six clear priorities for ocean protection, including:

1. Uplifting Indigenous and community knowledge as foundational to ocean governance
2. Establishing inclusive, well-managed marine protected and conserved areas
3. Banning destructive practices like bottom trawling, deep-sea mining, and harmful industrial fishing
4. Supporting small-scale and artisanal fisheries as a living cultural practice
5. Calling for a moratorium on seabed mining to protect fragile deep-sea ecosystems and ancestral spaces
6. Ensuring the fair and inclusive implementation of the BBNJ Treaty, with full respect for Indigenous rights

A growing number of civil society voices are now echoing this approach: the path to a healthy, thriving ocean must begin with those who know it best. For too long, ocean policy and conservation have sidelined the very communities whose lives and identities are intertwined with the sea. That is beginning to change.

From the Pacific to the global stage, Indigenous Peoples and small-scale fishers are calling for a seat at the table — not as stakeholders to be consulted, but as leaders, knowledge holders, and guardians of the ocean.

For generations, these communities have governed their ocean spaces with care, reciprocity, and deep ecological wisdom. Their leadership is not symbolic — it is essential.

That vision resonated deeply at UNOC3, where conversations on ocean protection began to shift. The debate around 30×30 — the goal to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 — moved beyond numbers and targets, toward a more meaningful question:
Who will protect the ocean, and how can we ensure that protection is sustainable?

For the first time at this level, the voices of small-scale fishers were more visible. Their lived realities, leadership, and deep-rooted connection to the ocean were brought into the spotlight. Ministers and negotiators echoed the need for community-led management, long-term financing, and an end to the creation of “paper parks” that fail to deliver real protection.

This shift in tone, though still emerging, signals a growing recognition that the future of the ocean cannot be separated from the people of the ocean. It must be grounded in justice, in cultural values, and in the leadership of those whose survival is intertwined with the sea.

Te Reo o Te Moana reflects this rising tide. It is a call to co-create ocean governance, not around but with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Because a seat at the table means more than being heard — it means having power, being resourced, being respected, and rewriting the rules to reflect Indigenous priorities.

“It is time to elevate the Indigenous People of Moana-nui–a-kiwa to be participants, to be integrated into decisions, to find solutions, to bring our place back into balance,”

said Solomon Kaho’ohalahala, co-founder of One Oceania.

“It’s a simple solution: those who live in rhythm with the Earth must lead, if we are to heal our island home.”

Indigenous Rights in the Age of AI

This year, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples carries a theme that may seem far from the ocean but is no less urgent: “Indigenous Peoples and AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures.”

As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in every aspect of our lives — from governance to conservation to communication — new threats and opportunities are emerging.

The UN General Assembly’s 2024 resolution A/RES/78/265 affirms that AI systems must be developed and governed in a way that respects human rights, including the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Why does this matter? Because without safeguards, AI could reproduce and automate colonial harms — from the erasure of languages and knowledge systems, to data extraction without consent, to algorithmic exclusion and surveillance.

As digital divides widen, the risk is clear: AI could further marginalize Indigenous communities.

This year’s UN commemoration on 8 August included a virtual panel discussion on how Indigenous rights can be upheld in the age of AI. From knowledge governance to digital inclusion, this conversation is vital. Panellist Danielle Boyer (Anishinaabe), Robotics Inventor & Founder, gave her perspective: 

“Indigenous peoples, we’ve always been innovators, we’ve been inventors, we’ve been scientists, we’ve been engineers. And our youth are brilliant. They’re geniuses. My students are out here inventing apps that are getting funded by MIT, creating organizations and designing their own robots and solutions. Our students and our youth have what’s in them to create the tools we need for the future. But, I think that there are things holding us back, and one of those is having self-determination within technology. Being able to speak up to these large corporations about the way that our knowledge is being used, being able to say, hey, we don’t want this to happen. We’re not being listened to.”

Rewriting the Rules Together

Indigenous Peoples have fought for generations to protect their identities, territories, and ways of life. Today, as humanity faces urgent ecological and technological thresholds, their leadership is more necessary than ever.

From climate justice to ocean governance, from digital rights to food systems, Indigenous communities are showing the world what true sustainability looks like — rooted in relationship, responsibility, and respect.

The question now is not if the world will listen — but whether it will rise with them.