AGENDA

  • 29 October 2020
  • 12:30-12:45

Biodiversity mini-film festival, presented by Patagonia Films: The Refuge

For hundreds of generations, the Gwich’in people of Alaska and northern Canada have depended on the caribou that migrate through the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. With their traditional culture now threatened by oil extraction and climate change, two Gwich’in women are continuing a decades-long fight to protect their land and future.

The Arctic Refuge is home to lands and wildlife vital for the subsistence way of life of Alaska Native communities; and it serves a vital role as a remaining link with the unspoiled natural world and a source of hope for future generations, even for those who may never set foot there.

The Trump administration is proceeding with plans to give oil and gas companies the right to drill in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. Drilling will destroy intact wilderness and violate the human rights of the Gwich’in, who rely on this sacred place to sustain their culture and w