2024 International Indigenous Research Conference
Pasang Dolma Sherpa
Indigenous rights and environmental activist Dr Pasang Dolma Sherpa grew up between two villages in Nepal: one high in the mountains, the other in the plains. Her mother led the latter for almost 20 years. As the climate changed, her high-altitude home started suffering from water scarcity and crop failures, driving more and more Indigenous Sherpa people to migrate to the lowlands. But things were not easy there, either. The plains are facing floods and droughts, and culturally important crops are disappearing to seeds engineered for drier, warmer weather. More than a decade ago, Pasang realized that Indigenous communities around the world faced similar struggles as their natural environments and their cultures declined simultaneously. She decided to take up the cause – and has never looked back.
Pasang Dolma Sherpa is the Executive Director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Research & Development (CIPRED) (https://www.cipred.org.np). She has been working with Indigenous Peoples, women, and local communities for more than a decade to promote the recognition of Indigenous knowledge, cultural values, and customary institutions that contribute to the sustainable management of forests, ecosystems, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Pasang earned her PhD from Kathmandu University in 2018, focusing on Climate Change Education and its Interfaces with Indigenous Knowledge.
She has served as Co-Chair of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) and the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Pasang has also been a board member of UN-REDD (https://www.un-redd.org/) and the Participant Committee of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank (https://www.forestcarbonpartnership.org). Currently, she is the Chair of the IUCN CEESP Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Customary and Environmental Laws and Human Rights (SPICEH) (https://shorturl.at/Hif8W) and a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University. Pasang actively participates in various forums, networks, and institutions at both national and international levels.