Indigenous Environmental Justice within Marine Ecosystems: A Systematic Review of the Literature on Indigenous Peoples’ Involvement in Marine Governance and Management

• Published in: Sustainability
• Main Authors: Meg Parsons, Lara Taylor, Roa Crease
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021
• Subjects: indigenous people; environmental justice; marine governance and management; collaborative natural resource management; marine protected areas; marine spatial planning; Environmental effects of industries and plants; TD194-195; Renewable energy sources; TJ807-830; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084217; https://doaj.org/article/0becc8c5051a4b389bb6c2f7eee43af3

We develop and apply a systematic review methodology to identify and understand how the peer-reviewed literature characterises Indigenous peoples’ involvement in marine governance and management approaches in terms of equity and justice worldwide. We reviewed the peer-reviewed English-language research articles between January 2015 and September 2020 for examples of Indigenous peoples’ involvement in marine governance and management using the analytical lens of environmental justice. The majority of research studies highlighted that Indigenous peoples experienced some form of environmental injustice linked to existing marine governance and management, most notably in the context of inequitable decision-making procedures surrounding the establishment and operation of marine protected areas. However, there are significant gaps in the current literature, including a notable absence of studies exploring Indigenous women and other gender minorities’ involvement in marine planning and management and the limited number of studies about Indigenous peoples living throughout Asia, the Arctic, Russia, and Africa. More studies are needed to explore collaborative and intersectional approaches, including co-governance and co-management and ecosystem-based management, and critically evaluate what constitutes inclusive, equitable, and just marine governance and management processes, practices, and outcomes for different Indigenous peoples occupying diverse social–ecological systems.