Bridging the Gap: The Role of Spatial Information Technologies in the Integration of Traditional Environmental Knowledge and Western Science

Abstract

AbstractAgenda 21 dedicates a whole chapter to the role and importance of information for sustainable development. Among the provisions on harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) one paragraph addresses the need for a strengthening of the capacity for traditional information. Local communities and resource users should benefit from mechanisms that provide them with the know‐how they need to manage their environment and resources sustainably, applying traditional and indigenous knowledge and approaches.This paper will examine how this objective is being implemented through the use of spatial information systems (including GPS and Remote Sensing), which collect, manipulate and distribute data on a variety of environmental factors, in order to inform and encourage sustainable resource management practices. Some initiatives have adopted grassroots and participatory approaches, whereby local communities map their territories and resources with the help of information technologies. This paper will review a sample of these projects and analyze how they can generate synergies between traditional knowledge and modern science.