The “specialized traditional ecological knowledge” of indigenous communities is important to effective disaster response, according to one mayor from the eastern Arctic, speaking at a UN regional conference on the issue.

Madeleine Redfern is the mayor of Iqaluit, a city of 8,000 residents in the newest and most northern territory of Canada, Nunavut.

She’s one of around 1,000 delegates attending the Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas, taking place in Montreal, Canada.

Ms Redfern was one of the panelists at a special event discussing how indigenous communities can become more resilient, and she told Matthew Wells afterwards that it was time for her national government to “move beyond just the words”.

Duration: 4’39”