Douglas Nakashima Douglas Nakashima is Chief of the Small Islands and Indigenous Knowledge Section in UNESCO’s Natural Sciences Sector. He currently heads the UNESCO programme created in 2002, on «Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems » (LINKS) that addresses the role of indigenous knowledge holders in environmental management including biodiversity assessment and climate change adaptation. The LINKS programme also promotes indigenous knowledge transmission within local communities. He has worked in the indigenous knowledge field for over 30 years. His initial research focused on the knowledge, practice and worldviews of Inuit with respect to their arctic environment. Work with Cree First Nations of subarctic James Bay (Canada) brought indigenous knowledge into environmental and social impact assessment processes.