Riverbank reforestation as climate adaptation: How Indigenous-led ecological restoration can revive salmon ecosystems beyond carbon metrics
Original framing: “Can planting trees on riverbanks save salmon rivers from global warming?” — The Conversation - Global
Indigenous river management systems, such as the *q̓ʷa:na:q̓ʷa:t̓s* (salmon protection) practices of the Coast Salish or the *kāhui waiora* (water guardians) networks in Aotearoa, demonstrate that riverbank restoration is not a novel concept but a decolonized practice. These systems integrate salmon lifecycle knowledge, seasonal burning, and *managing* (controlled flooding) to maintain ecological balance—approaches systematically erased by colonial land policies. The study’s 'priority areas' could be reimagined through Indigenous spatial knowledge, such as the Gitxsan *wilp* (place-names) that map salmon habitats with precision. Without centering these frameworks, reforestation risks replicating the same extractive logics that caused the crisis.
The reforestation narrative reveals a systemic failure to address salmon river crises holistically, where technical solutions like tree-planting are offered as band-aids for wounds caused by colonial land policies, industrial pollution, and climate change.
Indigenous knowledge systems—such as the *q̓ʷa:na:q̓ʷa:t̓s* protocols or *kaitiakitanga* practices—provide proven frameworks for restoration, yet these are systematically excluded from climate adaptation plans, reflecting a deeper erasure of whose land and water are at stake. Historical parallels, from the 19th-century deforestation of the Pacific Northwest to the Dust Bowl, show how short-term land-use decisions create long-term ecological traps, demanding reparative justice alongside restoration. The trickster here is the salmon itself, a being that exposes the absurdity of treating rivers as engineering problems rather than living relations. True solutions require centering Indigenous sovereignty, treating pollution as a priority, and restoring rivers as cultural and spiritual systems—not just carbon sinks. The path forward lies in *land back for salmon*, where reforestation is one tool among many in a broader revival of ecological and social justice.