Indigenous and Tribal Community Practices for the Sustainable Development Goals: A Thematic Review

Indigenous and tribal peoples possess traditional knowledge aligned with sustainable development, yet these dispersed practices have not been sufficiently synthesised with respect to their contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Guided by a Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous relational framework, this thematic synthesis examined 36 peer-reviewed documents from the Scopus database to evaluate relevant practices, the SDGs they address and their reported effectiveness. The findings identify prominent practices including traditional sustainability knowledge, Indigenous governance, community-led WASH, Indigenous tourism, digital archiving, and culturally based education. These practices most frequently map to SDG 15 (Life on Land), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 3 (Good Health), and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger). Reported positive outcomes include improved learning, enhanced cultural pride, and biodiversity conservation; however, most studies do not provide evidence of long-term impact. Major structural constraints such as inadequate funding, weak policy enforcement, and declining intergenerational knowledge transfer continue to limit potential effectiveness. Methodological limitations of this review include relying on a single database, title-only search criteria, English-language constraints, and the absence of study-quality appraisals or tracking of Indigenous-led research. Traditional practices can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs, contingent upon supportive policy, recognised land rights, and effective measurement of local impacts. Consequently, policymakers must secure land and territorial rights, co-design community interventions, support Indigenous-led indicators, invest in knowledge transmission, and fund long-term participatory research.