In the rich cultures of Indigenous Peoples across the Great Lakes basin, the turtle holds a place of profound significance. For the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, the turtle is far more than an animal; it is a sacred being, a symbol of creation, and an influential teacher of balance, patience, and interconnectedness. Yet, as climate change accelerates, turtles in the Great Lakes region face increasing threats, bringing their survival—and the health of our shared environment—into sharp focus.
Turtles of the Great Lakes Region: Sacred Beings and Environmental Indicators
The Great Lakes basin is home to several species of turtles, including the painted turtle, snapping turtle, Blanding’s turtle, wood turtle, spotted turtle, musk turtle, and map turtle. These species play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem health, functioning as scavengers, seed dispersers, and contributors to aquatic food webs. However, they are increasingly at risk from habitat loss, pollution, invasive species, and the profound effects of climate change.
Turtles are sensitive to environmental changes, making them key indicators of ecological health. Rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and altered water levels disrupt their nesting cycles, hatchling success rates, and sex ratios. Since the nest’s temperature determines a turtle’s sex during incubation, warming climates produce disproportionately more females, threatening population stability. These disruptions are not just a concern for turtles; they provide a stark warning about the broader impacts of climate change on the ecosystems we depend on.
Creation Stories and Sacred Roles: Turtle as Teacher
The Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe creation stories place the turtle at the center of the land’s formation. For the Haudenosaunee, the turtle’s back became the foundation of Turtle Island when Sky Woman fell from the Sky World, assisted by water animals like the muskrat. Similarly, in the Anishinaabe tradition, Nanabozho orchestrated the creation of land on a turtle’s back with the help of the muskrat’s selfless sacrifice. These stories reflect profound ecological truths: cooperation, resilience, and the interdependence of all life.
Turtle Island (AI-generated image)
Turtles are sacred to both cultures. The Haudenosaunee see the 13 large scales on a turtle’s shell as a representation of the 13 lunar cycles, emphasizing time’s sacred rhythm and the wisdom of patience. The Anishinaabe view the turtle’s shell as a symbol of protection and interconnectedness, embodying the Earth. As clans, turtles often hold leadership roles, guiding communities with steadiness and wisdom.
Climate Change Through an Indigenous Lens
For the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe, the natural world is a network of relationships in which every being has a role and agency. Turtles, as sacred beings and environmental sentinels, teach us about the health of our ecosystems and the urgent need for action. The Haudenosaunee’s Seven Generations principle implores us to consider the long-term consequences of our actions, particularly as we witness climate change’s accelerating impacts.
The Anishinaabe teaching of Mino-Bimaadiziwin (“the Good Life”) emphasizes harmony and reciprocity with nature. This includes understanding that the turtle’s survival is not separate from our own—it reflects the broader state of the natural world. As caretakers, our shared duty is to protect turtles, their habitats, and the delicate ecosystems they sustain.
A Call to Action: Honouring the Turtle and Addressing Climate Change
Protecting turtles in the Great Lakes region requires immediate, collaborative action. This includes safeguarding wetlands, preventing pollution, addressing invasive species, and mitigating climate change’s effects. Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) offers powerful guidance for these efforts, grounded in a worldview that sees humans as interconnected with all beings rather than dominant over them.
Practical steps include supporting conservation programs that protect turtle habitats and ensure sustainable ecosystems. For example, Indigenous-led initiatives emphasize the importance of wetlands—key nesting and feeding areas for turtles—which also help buffer against climate change by sequestering carbon and reducing flooding. Incorporating Indigenous teachings into broader environmental strategies can amplify their effectiveness and foster a deeper respect for the natural world.
Learning from the Turtle: A Sacred Responsibility
The turtle teaches us patience, resilience, and the interconnectedness of life. As climate change threatens their survival, their plight reminds us of the urgent need for collective action to protect the Earth. By embracing the wisdom of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and other Indigenous Peoples, we can learn to walk more gently on Turtle Island, honouring our responsibility to the land and its sacred beings.
Humanity must steadfastly carry this responsibility, much like the turtle carries the world. By doing so, we ensure the survival of these ancient beings and the health of the ecosystems that sustain us all. Together, we can create a future that reflects the turtle’s balance, perseverance, and wisdom—an enduring symbol of our sacred connection to Mother Earth.
By Rye Karonhiowanen Barberstock
(Header Image Credit: Matt Bango, Licensed under Unsplash+)
The post The Sacred Turtle: Teachings on Our Shared Responsibility to Mother Earth appeared first on Indigenous Climate Hub.
The Sacred Turtle: Teachings on Our Shared Responsibility to Mother Earth
Half of nations have met a UN deadline to report on how they are tackling nature loss within their borders, Carbon Brief analysis shows.
This includes 11 of the 17 “megadiverse nations”, countries that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity.
It also includes all of the G7 nations apart from the US, which is not part of the world’s nature treaty.
All 196 countries that are part of the UN biodiversity treaty were due to submit their seventh “national reports” by 28 February, of which 98 have done so.
Their submissions are supposed to provide key information for an upcoming global report on actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, in addition to a global review of progress due to be conducted by countries at the COP17 nature summit in Armenia in October this year.
At biodiversity talks in Rome in February, UN officials said that national reports submitted late will not be included in the global report due to a lack of time, but could still be considered in the global review.
Tracking nature action
In 2022, nations signed a landmark deal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, known as the “Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework” (GBF).
In an effort to make sure countries take action at the domestic level, the GBF included an “implementation schedule”, involving the publishing of new national plans in 2024 and new national reports in 2026.
The two sets of documents were to inform both a global report and a global review, to be conducted by countries at COP17 in Armenia later this year. (This schedule mirrors the one set out for tackling climate change under the Paris Agreement.)
The deadline for nations’ seventh national reports, which contain information on their progress towards meeting the 23 targets of the GBF based on a set of key indicators, was 28 February 2026.
According to Carbon Brief’s analysis of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s online reporting platform, 98 out of the 196 countries that are part of the nature convention (50%) submitted on time.
The map below shows countries that submitted their seventh national reports by the UN’s deadline.
This includes 11 of the 17 “megadiverse nations” that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity.
The megadiverse nations to meet the deadline were India, Venezuela, Indonesia, Madagascar, Peru, Malaysia, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Australia.
It also includes all of the G7 nations (France, Germany, the UK, Japan, Italy and Canada), excluding the US, which has never ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The UK’s seventh national report shows that it is currently on track to meet just three of the GBF’s 23 targets.
This is according to a LinkedIn post from Dr David Cooper, former executive secretary of the CBD and current chair of the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee, which coordinated the UK’s seventh national report,
The report shows the UK is not on track to meet one of the headline targets of the GBF, which is to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.
It reports that the proportion of land protected for nature is 7% in England, 18% in Scotland and 9% in Northern Ireland. (The figure is not given for Wales.)
National plans
In addition to the national reports, the upcoming global report and review will draw on countries’ national plans.
Countries were meant to have submitted their new national plans, known as “national biodiversity strategies and action plans” (NBSAPs), by the start of COP16 in October 2024.
A joint investigation by Carbon Brief and the Guardian found that only 15% of member countries met that deadline.
Since then, the percentage of countries that have submitted a new NBSAP has risen to 39%.
According to the GBF and its underlying documents, countries that were “not in a position” to meet the deadline to submit NBSAPs ahead of COP16 were requested to instead submit national targets. These submissions simply list biodiversity targets that countries will aim for, without an accompanying plan for how they will be achieved.
As of 2 March, 78% of nations had submitted national targets.
At biodiversity talks in Rome in February, UN officials said that national reports submitted late will not be included in the global report due to a lack of time, but could still be considered in the global review.
Funding ‘delays’
At the Rome talks, some countries raised that they had faced “difficulties in submitting [their national reports] on time”, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
Speaking on behalf of “many” countries, Fiji said that there had been “technical and financial constraints faced by parties” in the preparation of their seventh national reports.
In a statement to Carbon Brief, a spokesperson for the Global Environment Facility, the body in charge of providing financial and technical assistance to countries for the preparation of their national reports, said “delays in fund disbursement have occurred in some cases”, adding:
“In 2023, the GEF council approved support for the development of NBSAPs and the seventh national reports for all 139 eligible countries that requested assistance. This includes national grants of up to $450,000 per country and $6m in global technical assistance delivered through the UN Development Programme and UN Environment Programme.
“As of the end of January 2026, all 139 participating countries had benefited from technical assistance and 93% had accessed their national grants, with 11 countries yet to receive their funds. Delays in fund disbursement have occurred in some cases, compounded by procurement challenges and limited availability of technical expertise.”
The spokesperson added that the fund will “continue to engage closely with agencies and countries to support timely completion of NBSAPs and the seventh national reports”.
The post Analysis: Half of nations meet UN deadline for nature-loss reporting appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Analysis: Half of nations meet UN deadline for nature-loss reporting
Facing multiple lawsuits, Dow requests an “unprecedented” permit amendment to authorize its discharge of polyethylene pellets into coastal waters.
Two weeks ago, when Texas sued a massive Dow petrochemical plant over water pollution, state environmental regulators were already considering a novel proposal from the company that would effectively legalize discharges of plastic material from the 4,700–acre complex into waters feeding San Antonio Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Dow Asks Texas to Legalize Plastic Pollution from its Seadrift Complex
As Democrats and climate activists seize on energy costs as a political issue, new data shows electricity rates rose 5 percent nationwide in 2025. The figures were much higher in some states.
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Protestors stood in the snow outside the offices of Ohio’s utility regulator in January to say they were fed up with rising electricity rates.
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