It is estimated that there are currently 5,000 different Indigenous peoples in the world with a population between 250 and 300 million people. There are Indigenous populations in all continents, even in Europe, where the Finnish Sami have led a semi-nomadic lifestyle for centuries.

Indigenous peoples are those who have shown a strong cultural and spiritual attachment to the land since before modern nations were created and borders defined. Despite the enormous variety of Indigenous cultures in the world, most of them are characterised by sharing linguistic, socio-cultural, economic and political systems in relation to their ancestral territories.

It is important to note today many Indigenous communities are affiliated to larger and empowering networks that articulate their fight for their land-rights like for example the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, the International Council for Indigenous Treatis or the Assembly of First Nations (in Canada).

Indigenous peoples have been leading their own lfestyle since time inmemorial until colonialism exerted a catastrophic impact on their worldviews and culture which were deemed barbaric and non-modern according to European standards of development. Actually, nowadays we know what a big mistake that was as Indigenous peoples are repository of huge amounts of botannical knowledge and cultural legacy contained in their oral traditions. Recent trends in sociology suggest that it is necessary to regard Indigenous knowledge as fundamental for a more balanced and inclusive relationship with the environment for the future of mankind.