Conclusion: Redefining progress in the Anthropocene–Pacific trajectories for global alternatives

This collection has argued that solutions to issues of Indigenous political empowerment and economic viability will only be economically, socially and ecologically sustainable if they take account of distinct local contexts and cultures. Local communities must live with the consequences of environmental mismanagement and overexploitation while rarely benefiting from the short-term economic profits such actions may generate within the global system. National or international political, conservation and sustainable development policy frameworks ultimately rely on local community assent and compliance because of the limited resources provided to national and regional compliance monitors and implementation staff. Multiple generations of colonial indirect rule