Earth LinC · Emerging Roles Research
谁来守护这片活着的土地？
A new class of human roles is taking shape worldwide — not volunteers, not scientists, but funded professionals who live with the land, remember its changes, and carry its future.
"Human observer is becoming one of the most important roles in Earth health and community resilience — more than just a volunteer. It can be a funded profession."
Around the world, communities are recognising what institutions have too slowly understood: the most sensitive instruments for monitoring a changing planet are people who already live there. Fishers who know the ice. Elders who remember the river. Youth who walk the land every day. These are not informal helpers. They are the foundation of a new professional ecosystem.
在全球各地，越来越多的社区正在认识到一件机构和政府迟迟未能理解的事情：监测一个正在变化的星球，最灵敏的"仪器"是那些本来就生活在那里的人。知道冰何时不安全的渔民。还记得河流原来模样的长者。每天走过土地的年轻人。他们不是辅助人员。他们是一个新职业生态系统的基础。
From Australia's 320+ Indigenous Ranger Groups to Canada's Guardians Network, from Alaska's LEO fishers to Japan's Satoyama caretakers — governments are beginning to fund what communities have always known: presence is data, and relationship is expertise.
从澳大利亚超过320个原住民护林员小组，到加拿大的守护者网络；从阿拉斯加 LEO 网络的渔民，到日本里山的守护者——政府正在开始资助社区一直以来所知道的事情：在场即数据，关系即专业。
一种职业，诞生于不同的土地与语言
Australia
原住民护林员
Australia's ranger program is perhaps the world's most structured example of the guardian profession. Communities monitor biodiversity, manage fire country, and protect sacred sites — while earning a living. This is no longer an environmental project. It is a new occupational system.
320+ Ranger Groups · Target 3,800+ positions by 2030
New Zealand / Aotearoa
生息地守护者 · 关系维护者
From the Māori worldview, Kaitiakitanga is often translated as "guardianship" — but it means something deeper: the obligation to maintain right relationship between people, land, and future generations. A Kaitiaki is not just a protector. They are a living covenant.
Encoded in New Zealand's Resource Management Act
Alaska, USA
本地环境观察者网络
The Local Environmental Observer Network connects fishers, hunters, and village residents who continuously document ice conditions, river changes, animal behaviour and weather. They do not call themselves scientists. Yet they are building one of the most important environmental databases in the Arctic.
Ice · Rivers · Wildlife · Weather — documented by residents
Japan
里山守护者
In the Satoyama landscape — the mosaic of forest, farmland, and village — there are people who simply refuse to let the relationship between humans and nature collapse. Not ecologists, not NGO staff. Just people who show up, season after season, maintaining the living interface.
UNESCO Satoyama Initiative active across 18+ countries
Canada
原住民守护者
Canada's growing Guardians network answers a simple question: who stays with the land long enough to notice change? Described as "eyes and ears on the land," Guardians observe territory, water, wildlife, ice, and community — and increasingly, they are paid to do so.
C$1.3B+ committed · National Guardians Network growing
Global
社区监测者 · 知识守护者
Under many names — stewards, land observers, knowledge keepers — community monitors are emerging in every bioregion. What unites them is not a title but a practice: sustained, relational presence with a specific place, and the commitment to notice, record, and respond.
Active across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Pacific
加拿大：谁在资助土地观察者？
| Program | Funding | Who Can Participate | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indigenous Community-Based Climate Monitoring Program | ~C$8M / year For community design, hiring, training, equipment, youth employment, intergenerational knowledge transfer. |
First Nations, Inuit, Métis communities, governments and representative organisations. | Canada is investing in long-term observers, not just sensors. Communities define the questions. |
| Indigenous Guardians Program | C$1.3B+ committed 2021–2028 National support system; no single unified annual figure publicly available. |
Indigenous Guardians, community members, youth, land stewards. | "Eyes and ears on the land" — sustained, funded presence as a professional role. |
| Indigenous Fund for Community-Based Environmental Monitoring | Up to C$2M / year C$579,700 for new projects in 2026–2027. Typical grants ~C$150K/year. |
Local Indigenous Communities leading their own projects. | Environmental monitoring directly defined and executed by communities. |
| Indigenous Climate Monitoring Toolkit | Capacity-building resource Not a direct funding programme — a methodology and training system. |
Any community, student, or organisation planning Indigenous climate monitoring. | A complete Place → Protocol → Sharing methodology framework. |
| Map — Canada in a Changing Climate | National knowledge platform Not a direct funding programme — an open-access knowledge layer. |
All public, researchers, students, practitioners. | Connects local observations and adaptation actions into a national knowledge map. |
五个值得深入了解的项目
01 · Canada
加拿大气候变化地图
A living map of how people, communities and sectors across Canada are adapting to climate change in the real world.
一张持续更新的加拿大气候适应地图，展示不同社区、行业和地区如何应对正在发生的气候变化。
02 · Canada
原住民社区气候监测计划
A national program that invests in communities as long-term climate observers, supporting them to design, run, and sustain their own monitoring systems.
一个把社区作为长期气候观察者进行投资的国家项目，由原住民主导设计和实施气候监测，而不仅仅是收集数据。
03 · Canada
原住民气候监测工具包
A practical playbook that helps Indigenous communities plan, build, manage, and grow their own climate-monitoring initiatives — from protocol to knowledge sharing.
一个面向原住民社区的实操工具包，从规划、培训到知识管理，帮助社区建立自己的气候监测体系。
04 · Canada
原住民守护者计划
Canada's answer to a simple question: who stays with the land long enough to notice change? Guardians are described as "Eyes and Ears on the Land" — observing territory, water, wildlife, ice and community with sustained professional presence.
加拿大对于"谁会长期留在土地上并发现变化？"这个问题的一种回答。守护者被描述为"土地上的眼睛和耳朵"，长期专业地观察土地、水域、野生动物、冰雪和社区变化。
05 · Canada
为了我们的未来：原住民韧性报告
An Indigenous-led national assessment of climate change, adaptation, and resilience through Indigenous knowledge, experiences, and perspectives.
一份由原住民主导完成的国家级气候韧性报告，通过原住民知识与实践理解气候变化和适应。
Community + Youth + Climate + Indigenous Knowledge + Monitoring ——
处于这些交叉点上的组织，正在做一些很有趣的事情
Canada · Leadership
One of the most important driving organisations behind Canada's Indigenous Guardians movement. ILI launched the "Land Needs Guardians" campaign, convenes National Guardians Gatherings, and advocates for long-term funding, professionalisation, youth engagement, and knowledge exchange.
"Elders, youth, leaders and partners together."ilinationhood.ca →
Canada · Network
A First Nations-led non-profit dedicated specifically to helping Guardians grow, find employment, and connect with each other. NGN provides training, knowledge exchange, and funding support — with the explicit mission to build guardianship as a recognised profession.
"Support the profession of Guardians."ILI Partners Network →
注意这个词：Profession。一种职业。
Canada · Methodology
Not just a toolkit — a methodology community. The framework supports the principle that community learns from community: Place → Protocol → Sharing. Developed with Dehcho First Nations and partners, it is now a replicable model for Indigenous-led monitoring worldwide.
"Community learns from community."indigenousclimatemonitoring.ca →
Canada · Youth
A Canadian youth-led climate innovation organisation that co-creates the tools, programs, and policy changes needed for a just, climate-resilient future. At the intersection of community, youth, and climate action — they are cultivating the next generation of observers, stewards, and guardians.
"Enable and mobilize youth to co-create a just, climate-resilient future."youthclimatelab.org →
所有链接均可直接访问，供分享与深入研究