Aboriginal Entrepreneurship in the Sphere of Fishing: The Example of Sakhalin

Land management for erosion prevention: A case study for a Turkish nature reserve

Indigenous traditional land uses, including hunting, fishing, sacred activities, and land-based education at the Red Sucker Lake First Nation (RSLFN) in Manitoba, Canada, are impacted by mining. The Red Sucker Lake First Nation (RSLFN) people want their territories’ land and water to be protected for traditional uses, culture, and ecological integrity. Towards this goal, their Island Lake Tribal Council sought support for an Indigenous-protected and conserved area (IPCA) in their territory, outside of existing mining claims, but without success. The two-eyed seeing approach was adopted in this study. Traditional land use mapping and interviews were undertaken with 21 Indigenous people from the RSLFN, showing that many traditional land uses are concentrated on greenstone belts. The interviews revealed that mining exploration has resulted in large petroleum spills, noise distress, private property destruction, wildlife die-offs, and animal population declines. These issues negatively impact RSLFN’s traditional land use practices, ecosystem integrity, and community health. Governments need to partner with Indigenous communities to reach their biodiversity targets, particularly considering northern Canada’s peatlands, including those in the RSLFN territory, surpassing Amazon forests for carbon storage. The role of critical minerals in renewable energy and geopolitics has colonial governments undermining Indigenous rights, climate stabilization, and biodiversity to prioritize extractivism. Mining at the RSLFN has environmental impacts from exploration to decommissioning and after, as well as the massive infrastructure required that includes roads, hydro, and massive energy supplies, with a proposed multimedia national Northern Corridor to export RSLFN’s resources and other resources to six ports.

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), there are 63 territories of traditional land use of the Indigenous Minorities of the North within the boundaries of municipal districts and nasleg (lowest municipal division), as well as nomadic tribal communities. Almost 58 % of the republic’s territory is under the traditional land use status. The traditional use of natural resources and traditional lifestyles of indigenous peoples are inextricably linked to the resource potential and ecological state of natural landscapes. The paper is aimed to develop a standardized methodology for the design of a small-scale landscape map of traditional land use in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Based on the review of atlas approaches to landscape structure mapping of protected natural areas, we propose to use a multi-thematic dataset of geospatial layers according to the criteria of the classification of typological, regional and basin categories of landscapes. The dataset includes layers from previously published landscape maps and permafrost-landscape regionalization maps, soil-vegetation maps, and global geospatial data for Hammond relief regions, GMTED2010 digital elevation model and HydroBASINS river basins. Methods for delineation of mapped units include overlay geoprocessing, zonal statistics, and relief analysis. For the basemap, the description of typological landscape units includes landscape subclass-genus-type(subtype) and terrain type. The methodology was tested for the Ust-Maiskij district with predominance of mountain taiga and mid-taiga landscapes and Eveno-Bytantaiskij national district with predominance of mountain-tundra, mountain-woodland and north taiga landscapes. The obtained landscape maps contain 36 typological units that synthesize 6 subclasses, 7 landscape types (subtypes) and 12 terrain types by 5 landscape provinces and large river basins (Lena, Yana, Omoloi and Aldan). Thus, the proposed landscape mapping methodology covers the holistic spatial structure of the leading components, allowing for a multidimensional approach to territorial planning and functional zoning of traditional land use.

There is a limited number of studies describing the situation and importance of current or potential usage of the local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge in the region of Northern Nicaragua. To fill this gap, the author supported by a local team conducted the participative research in this rather neglected Central American region, concretely in the northern area of the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark. The purpose of this research was to identify the local and indigenous knowledge regarding the present and traditional use of natural resources including land use and to analyse the contribution and potential of the usage of this knowledge for the local development sustainability. The practical long-term impact of this research is expected mainly in the form of enhancement of the local geotourism sustainability. The research process itself was of the same importance as its results, especially the involvement of the local and indigenous people. In this participative research, young local and indigenous people obtained training and served as co-investigators who later interviewed representatives of the local households. The other field methods included life history of elders, discussions in the focal groups involving common people from local communities as well as the mapping and photo-documentation of the identified local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge. The participative character of the research process not only facilitated the data collection and validation but also supported the revival of the community memory and revitalization of its cultural and natural identity. The research findings point out that the more distant and more dispersed are the local settlements the better conserved local and indigenous knowledge regarding the traditional land use and other use of natural resources is. Among the best-conserved local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge in the northern area of the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark was the usage of the earth material and plants. The local indigenous people are not expressing and transmitting the spiritual dimension of their traditional environmental knowledge (sacred times or sites, rites, rituals or taboos regarding the traditional land use and other use of natural resources) anymore because they were experiencing a continuous repression realized by the dominant (colonial) society in the past. They are not accustomed to appreciating the aesthetic values of the landscape as do visitors, but they are open to share their authentic life with them. The majority of the identified traditional land use and the use of the other natural resources as well as related traditional environmental knowledge in the researched northern region of the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark seems to be more sustainable than the present land use practices and the use of natural resources generally for agriculture, medicine, constructions etc. The local communities should dedicate much more attention and efforts to conserve, transmit and use this local and indigenous traditional environmental knowledge to enhance the sustainability of their development as well as geotourism emerging in this part of the aspiring geopark.

Northern British Columbia (BC) and Alberta are sparsely populated forested lands under provincial jurisdiction (also known as Crown land) which are under intensive oil & gas exploration and pipeline development. Local Aboriginal people continue to implement traditional practices that maintain viable land and productive ecosystems by annual rotation of trap lines, hunting and gathering areas and similar activities. Aboriginal people can exert tremendous influence on pipeline projects through various means. Regulators and enlightened pipeline companies recognize the value of assessing traditional knowledge that has been collected over generations and passed down from the Elders to contribute to final routing, siting and project design identifying effects on environmental resources and traditional land and resource use and developing mitigation opportunities. Traditional knowledge includes experiential and secondary knowledge as well as accepted scientific research in the context of environmental assessments. Robust applications consider sources from all land users while being mindful of the intricacies inherent with Aboriginal engagement in order to gather substantive input for projects on Crown land. This paper explores the contribution of Aboriginal Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in the environmental assessment process on selected case studies involving recent natural gas pipeline projects in northern BC and Alberta from a balanced perspective. It also describes the evolution of a program developed by the author from its initial emphasis on Traditional Land Use (TLU) studies to the present day application of TLU studies, and TEK studies, focusing on lessons learned and regulatory and engagement challenges and successes.

In Central Germany, many species are known to decline due to the abandonment of traditional land use practices, among them Campanula glomerata . Within the scope of a population viability analysis for this species we monitored the development of several population size parameters such as total number of stems, number of flowering stems, population density and the area occupied by a population, all in landscapes defined by traditional land use practices as well as in landscapes where land use has been halted. However, over a time span of three years we did not detect any constant tendency for decreasing sizes of populations of C. glomerata on disused land compared to those on traditionally used land. Populations in used and abandoned landscapes were characterized by a high variability and fluctuation of size, and did not differ in any of the size parameters we determined. Further studies should include the monitoring of the age state structure of populations as important to facilitate a meaningful comparison of C. glomerata populations in abandoned and traditionally used landscapes. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Ethnographic refusal in traditional land use mapping: Consultation, impact assessment, and sovereignty in the Athabasca oil sands region

Canada is an international leader in the methodology of traditional land use and occupancy mapping as a result of the negotiation process for settling comprehensive land claims in the North. Since the early 1980s this methodology has found increasing application in the Canadian mid-North, especially in the context of forest planning and management in the northern Alberta Forest Management Agreement (FMA) areas. The goals of traditional land use and occupancy mapping in these FMAs include collection and preservation of traditional environmental knowledge, integration of this knowledge into forest planning and management and, for the Aboriginal communities, active participation in decision-making processes in order to attain sustainable forest management. While the first goal is often met in mapping projects, goals two and three are proving harder to achieve because of conflicting government policy agendas, differing paradigms of community development in society at large, and the lack of recognition and legal protection for Treaty and Aboriginal rights. Key words: traditional land use and occupancy studies, traditional environmental knowledge, bush economy, co-management

Land use evolution and management under recurrent conflict conditions: Umbundu agroforestry system in the Angolan Highlands

The relevance of this study is determined by the need for a comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of agricultural land use in the northern region, where agricultural production is characterized by a high Aproportion of traditional, low-commodity farming practices, which shape a unique employment structure. The objective of this study was to analyze the dynamics and relationships between the employment structure characteristic of the traditional sector and land use performance indicators in agriculture in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) for the period 2020–2024. The methodological framework was based on the principles of regional economics and the economics of the agro-industrial complex (AIC). The empirical basis of the study was formed by data from Rosstat and the Territorial Office of the Federal State Statistics Service for the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). The study utilized comparative, economic-statistical, index, and correlation time series analysis methods. The scientific novelty lies in the application of the developed methodological approach to assessing land use performance, which takes into account the structural characteristics of employment and production prevalent in the republic’s agricultural sector. The study’s results showed that, over the analyzed period, household farms maintained their dominant role in generating gross output, and also revealed a steady increase in overall efficiency indicators (land productivity and labor productivity) against a background of structural stability. A synchronous positive trend was established between the growth of production and the increase in land productivity. The practical significance of the study lies in the development of analytical tools for substantiating agricultural policy aimed at supporting the efficiency of the entire multi-sector sector, which is a key condition for the sustainable development of rural areas in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

Traditional land use is a method of land use that has been carried out for generations by the community. Land management activities carried out from generation to generation, with the same pattern from year to year, such as land use which is often called Tebas Bakar and Mamar. Both land uses with different management methods can indicate changes in soil conditions as a medium for plant growth in their physical properties. The purpose of this study was to determine soil permeability in traditional land cultivation activities in Niukbaun Village, West Amarasi, NTT. Field and laboratory research was carried out in August-October 2024. The research location was in Niukbaun Village, West Amarasi District, with the traditional Tebas Bakar and Mamar management systems. Research Methods Data collection includes primary data, secondary data, Permeability observations were carried out in the field using a permeameter. The results obtained: Soil permeability on mamar land is better than slash and burn land. Each type of traditional land use differs according to its management method. So that texture, organic material and land use processing have an influence on the size of the soil permeability.

Effects of prospective landscape changes on species viability in Segre River valley, NE Spain

Bioculturally significant plants, which have played a key role in sustaining the livelihoods of tribal communities of Arunachal Pradesh, India, are facing threats from changing land use patterns, climatic aberrations and socioeconomic stressors. This study highlights two unique grassroots approaches to conserving these species and their associated cultural knowledge within the traditional land use systems of Arunachal Pradesh: Community Knowledge Gardens (CKGs) and Clan Reserve Forests (CRFs). Four CKGs and one CRF, transformed from existing traditional land use systems, were investigated in three socio-ecologically diverse landscapes of Nyishi, Adi and Monpa communities. Study participants, including both men and women, played an active role in devising locally compatible criteria and protocols for strengthening the conservation of key plant species within their traditional land use systems, through CKG and CRF approaches. A total of 86 plant species, conserved through the CKGs and 44 from the Adi CRF, were identified as having high food, ethnomedicinal and cultural values. The Shannon-Weaver index of richness of plant species conserved was highest in the Nyishi CKG, with a value of 38; while for Adi and Monpa it was 30 and 18, respectively. The pattern of Shannon-Weaver diversity index was in the order of 2.91, 2.64 and 2.63, respectively for the CKGs of these three communities. In comparison to individual CKGs, relatively higher species diversity (3.18) was found in the Adi CRF. Increased sharing of traditional knowledge among the community members, regular incomes and equitable sharing of the tangible and intangible benefits of using plant species were identified as important success indicators of the CKGs and CRF. In addition to providing valuable insights on biocultural knowledge and enabling the participants to strengthen their existing local land use practices for conserving valued plant biodiversity, the study outcomes have the potential to inform and strengthen the policies on environmental sustainability.

Since the late Spanish Enlightenment, the agroecosystem of the Atlantic coast of Andalusia, through which coastal dune systems are cultivated via sunken gardens between sand berms, have attracted scholarly attention. The environmental history of these systems, known as Navazo, is the focus of this article. Through analysis of historical aerial photographs, we identify eight areas in which traditional Navazo land use was practiced. By studying landscape diversity and historical documentation we identify key aspects of the emergence and evolution of this agroecosystem. The results of this study indicate that Navazos originated through a combination of the natural properties offered by the region's coastal dune geomorphology, which was cultivated as vineyards since ancient times, as well as external cultural influences. Coinciding with the popularisation of potato consumption in the eighteenth century, earlier vineyards were, in some cases, completely replaced by Navazos. Due to transformations in traditional land use practices, created a contemporary version of the Navazo. The location and physical configuration of the Navazos, meanwhile, display strong similarities with archaeological remains of Plot-and-Berm agroecosystems from the southeastern Mediterranean dating from the Early Islamic period. This study presents evidence to better understand the function, cropping practices and irrigation of these systems. .

As a method of recording Indigenous uses of the land, traditional land use mapping is a fixture in resource development-related consultation. In light of the recent Tsilhqot’in Decision in the Supreme Court of Canada, we argue that traditional land use documentation must move beyond the mapping of individual sites. Such work must consider the contexts in which Indigenous peoples use their traditional lands and as well as local, Indigenous concepts of management and governance. Drawing on an example of from Secwepemc territory in south-central British Columbia, we argue that the Tsilhqot’in Decision gives legal support to a more nuanced conception of the places of cultural significance to Indigenous peoples. We demonstrate further that the “spaces” between the places on traditional land use maps must be brought to the fore in development-related consultation.