This story is republished through the Indigenous News Alliance. On the second day of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, experts called attention to the ways Indigenous health is deeply tied to nature and highlighted how health inequalities are compounded by environmental degradation, extractive activities and climate change. The forum’s focus on Indigenous health comes as a new study by former permanent forum member Geoffrey Roth argues that U.N. agencies’ fragmented approach — addressing health, environment, and land rights through separate mandates — has “consistently failed Indigenous Peoples.” The study, presented as the forum opened its 25th session, positions environmental degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss not as external pressures but as “direct manifestations of injury” to Indigenous wellbeing. “For Indigenous Peoples, health is deeply tied to the health of the land,” said Roth, descendant of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “It’s not just about access to clinics or medicine – it’s about clean water, healthy forests, traditional foods, and the ability to maintain cultural practices. When the environment is damaged – whether from mining, deforestation, pollution, or climate change – it directly affects people’s health.” An Indigenous leader from Caigua points to the ravine with the same name as his community, marked by oil pollution that damages Aguaragüe National Park. Image courtesy of Miguel Surubi. At the forum, many Indigenous leaders spoke out about how the growing environmental crises increase the urgency to address their impacts on Indigenous health. “Climate change is also another threat…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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