Abstract
Abstract The continuing losses of biodiversity around the world remain problematic for nature conservation. A fundamental issue that has triggered debates in nature conservation is the relationship between human culture, heritage and history, and nature expressed as ecology or biodiversity. Traditionally, nature conservation has been pursued separately from aspects of cultural heritage; a situation which seems perplexing when we consider the importance of traditional management in the maintenance of biodiversity in many areas now ‘protected’ for nature. To address these broad issues, fundamental to future landscape sustainability, we need to have clear definitions of concepts and terms. This paper considers the historical development of the key concepts that frame biocultural diversity and the paradigms relating to biocultural assets or eco‐cultural landscapes. This is pertinent to both researchers and to practitioners or policymakers, and we suggest ways biocultural diversity can improve global conservation efforts. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Highlights
The relationships between nature and culture, and between biodi‐ versity and heritage, have been the subject of research and debates over recent decades (e.g. Agnoletti, 2006)
UNESCO note that the term ‘cultural heritage’ has evolved in recent decades and this is reflected in its own policy instruments, with a useful summary pro‐ vided on the UNESCO website (UNESCO, 2018)
Diaz et al (2015), in the context of the IPBES Conceptual Framework, give a specific definition, essentially the same as Hill et al (2011) and Loh and Harmon (2005): Biocultural diversity, defined as the total variety ex‐ hibited by the world’s natural and cultural systems, explicitly considers the idea that culture and nature are mutually constituting, and denotes three con‐ cepts: Firstly, diversity of life includes human cultures and languages; secondly, links exist between biodi‐ versity and cultural diversity; and these links have developed over time through mutual adaptation and possibly co‐evolution
Summary
The relationships between nature and culture, and between biodi‐ versity and heritage, have been the subject of research and debates over recent decades (e.g. Agnoletti, 2006). Diaz et al (2015), in the context of the IPBES Conceptual Framework, give a specific definition, essentially the same as Hill et al (2011) and Loh and Harmon (2005): Biocultural diversity, defined as the total variety ex‐ hibited by the world’s natural and cultural systems, explicitly considers the idea that culture and nature are mutually constituting, and denotes three con‐ cepts: Firstly, diversity of life includes human cultures and languages; secondly, links exist between biodi‐ versity and cultural diversity; and these links have developed over time through mutual adaptation and possibly co‐evolution.
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