Combating the global environmental crisis using indigenous ecological knowledge: the case of Kwahu traditional area, Ghana

Globally, and particularly in Argentina, biodiversity is declining due to the loss of species and habitats, while indigenous cultures are being eroded simultaneously. This results in a reduced capacity to transmit indigenous cultural diversity, the EIK (Ecological Indigenous Knowledge), and biological and cultural resources for future generations. The traditional use of the land by indigenous peoples for thousands of years has contributed to maintain biodiversity and cultural values. The use of EIK can generate new strategies for R + D (Research and Development) for biodiversity conservation and for the implementation of natural resources management (NRM) systems promoting the integration of indigenous communities in decision-making processes. This chapter reports results of an analysis on integration of EIK and ESK (Ecological Scientific Knowledge) in NRM in Misiones Province (Argentina). We describe the results and recommendations generated by analyzing national and international experiences in NRM, including agroforestry; and present a case study in the indigenous communities that inhabit the Guarani Reserve for Multiple Use (GRMU) of the School of Forestry-National University of Misiones, regarding NRM activities and related cultural values. From the results of surveys conducted with indigenous communities it appears that the place where the EIK can regenerate lies in the natural context where the EIK has originated. There is a need to take preventive measures to remediate the erosive processes that undermine the integrity of the cultural setting where the EIK could be applied. Preventive measures include the legal possession of large areas of forest in order to stop or slow the advance of the agricultural frontier on natural spaces where the EIK is recreated.

There is ample evidence in literature that indigenous knowledge, practices and beliefs often contribute to conservation and in some cases enhance local biodiversity. As a result there has been renewed interest in the use of indigenous knowledge, especially in forest management and conservation. Despite the renewed interest, incorporation of indigenous ecological knowledge in natural resource planning and management remains elusive. Using focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews, the study gives an account of the beliefs, practices and norms that have been used for conservation by the adjacent community of Kakamega Forest over the years. The study also highlights the implications of successive forest management regimes on the use of resources and indigenous ecological knowledge. Results indicate that the local community applied various beliefs, practices and norms to regulate use of Kakamega Forest. However, the advent of forest management regimes has brought resource use restrictions which often neglect indigenous ecological knowledge. This study provides key intervention strategies important for enhancing the complementary functions of indigenous ecological knowledge and forest management objectives.

This position paper discusses indigenous water resource conservation practices and modern methods to address challenges in Akwamu traditional area in the Eastern region of Ghana. Africa is bedeviled with environmental crisis in this 21st century, and this has been a major concern to environmental conservationists. In Ghana, one of such environmental crisis is pollution of water bodies as a result of indiscriminate human activities. Some have argued that non-recognition of indigenous knowledge in the management of water resources has been one of the major challenges of water resource crisis in Africa and Ghana is no exception. In the life and thought of indigenous people of Ghana, studies confirm that conservation of water resources is enforced through traditional religiously governed norms which have stood the test of time before formal institutions responsible for biodiversity conservation were established by government. Using Akwamu traditional area in Ghana as a case, this study explores how the indigenous people manage water bodies and to find out the possibility of incorporating indigenous knowledge practices and modern methods to address the current water resource problems in Ghana. Primary and secondary sources are employed for data collection. The study is carried out within the concept of ‘worldview’ to understand how indigenous people manage the environment through their indigenous belief systems. The findings are that; indigenous knowledge practices are potential tools for addressing water resource crisis in Ghana. The study also indicates that if indigenous knowledge practices are used alongside with the modern methods in water resource management, our water resource problems would be minimized if not totally solved in Africa.

Indigenous knowledge is often dismissed as ‘traditional and outdated’, and hence irrelevant to modern ecological assessment. This theoretical paper critically examines the arguments advanced to elevate modern western ecological knowledge over indigenous ecological knowledge, as well as the sources and uses of indigenous ecological knowledge. The central argument of the paper is that although the two systems are conceptually different, it would be fallacious to regard one as superior to the other merely because they are premised on different worldviews. Key words: Worldview, indigenous ecological Knowledge, western ecological knowledge, African Philosophy Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya (PAK) New Series, Vol.3 No.2, December 2011, pp.35-47

Pope Francis, in the encyclical Laudato Si’, speaks of an “integral ecology” that combines environmental, economic, social, cultural and spiritual ecologies in caring for our common home. Pope Francis also sees the important role of environmental education in increasing awareness and creating a “culture of care” for our common home and promoting quality of life or well-being. While promoting environmental education, many researchers argue in favor of the effectiveness of the indigenous ecological knowledge and practices to protect and maintain natural environments. Indigenous ecological knowledge systems are based on a process of an intimate relational perspective and a sort of symbiotic relationships between people and the ecological system. These assumptions of indigenous relational perspective and symbiotic relationships demand a holistic or global consciousness, which involves that people recognize the importance of other people and of other species to the global community’s integrated and comprehensive well-being. Based on the premise that indigenous knowledge and ecological systems should be recognized as a foreground in ecology; as an antidote to globalization in sustaining the environment, and as an invaluable tool in providing better quality of life, this paper proposes an integral ecological education model of an “indigenous relational perspective of ecological education and comprehensive well-being.” In this integral ecological education model, specific emphasis is placed on interconnectedness between indigenous aspects of environmental knowledge, kincentric ecology, ecological conversion and harmony, and ecological spirituality in creating a ‘culture of care’ for our common home and in promoting our common good, quality of life, and well-being. In the light of Laudato Si’ and the proposed model, some concrete examples implemented at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan are elucidated.

The Amazon rainforests and their biological diversity are being lost rapidly by the onslaught of extractive industries, large-scale agriculture and infrastructure development, which also undermines the integrity of indigenous territories and ethnicities, threatening the tremendous cultural diversity of the Amazon. The loss of forest, the disintegration of local communities and the increase of the market economy erode indigenous ecological knowledges that is intricately tied to the territory and the forest itself, with all that is contained within it. This chapter draws on collaborative research with an indigenous knowledge holder in the Colombian Amazon and presents insights into the wealth of indigenous ecological knowledges that still exist and that is of tremendous importance for understanding the different ways of seeing and relating to the social-ecological systems still present in the Amazon region. Based on these insights, we argue for more inclusive approaches to forest governance, that includes indigenous ecological knowledges, particularly relating to forest fauna. In more particular, indigenous knowledges on hunting must be included in future forest governance in order to ensure the continuous existence and practice of the wealth of this knowledge that has been accumulated by indigenous peoples over many generations. (Less)

Local-scale human–environment relationships are fundamental to energy sovereignty, and in many contexts, Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) is integral to such relationships. For example, Tribal leaders in southwestern USA identify firewood harvested from local woodlands as vital. For Diné people, firewood is central to cultural and physical survival and offers a reliable fuel for energy embedded in local ecological systems. However, there are two acute problems: first, climate change-induced drought will diminish local sources of firewood; second, policies aimed at reducing reliance on greenhouse-gas-emitting energy sources may limit alternatives like coal for home use, thereby increasing firewood demand to unsustainable levels. We develop an agent-based model trained with ecological and community-generated ethnographic data to assess the future of firewood availability under varying climate, demand and IEK scenarios. We find that the long-term sustainability of Indigenous firewood harvesting is maximized under low-emissions and low-to-moderate demand scenarios when harvesters adhere to IEK guidance. Results show how Indigenous ecological practices and resulting ecological legacies maintain resilient socio-environmental systems. Insights offered focus on creating energy equity for Indigenous people and broad lessons about how Indigenous knowledge is integral for adapting to climate change.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture’.

This study deals with the Oromo indigenous knowledge and its implication in the practices of natural resources management, with the focus on the natural resources that have been thought as fundamental and integrals of their entire lives: land, forest, and water resources. The study was conducted among Nole, Maccaa Oromo of West Wallagga. The study of the predominant human-environment relationship, and the indigenous ecological knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples in natural resources and biodiversity conservation have enormous role in understanding the ever-growing environmental problems, and consequent social problems. Hence, in an effort to understand the cause and magnitude of environmental problems, and to establish prospective measures that would help in solving these social and environmental acute, understanding the community’s worldview and integrated indigenous knowledge that they have been maintained in esteeming and managing the natural resources for healthy coexistence is important. This study employed qualitative research methods. Data used for the study gathered through data collection instruments such as interviews, focus group discussions, non-participant observation, case study, and secondary data analysis. Both primary and secondary data sources were used to compile the data for the study. The study reveals that the Oromo have indigenous ecological knowledge embedded in their worldview, and they have been maintained in wise management of natural resources. Thus, the Oromo worldview considers the organizations of the physical, the human, and the spiritual worlds, as organized and unified systems. The role of human, in this case is protecting and sustaining the equilibrium of the systems; and abiding the established distant and respect for every relations. The Oromo have the knowledge of laws of, and customary laws, norms, values, and the concept of Safuu and Ayyaana in their worldview, which guides their entire actions and relations in the universe. In general, these concepts are important component of the Oromo worldview. The knowledge of these concepts has been used to maintain relations between the physical, the human, and the spiritual worlds among the Oromo. They are believed to strengthen and maintained internal moral quality and unity of the Oromo.

Sustainable development, recommended by the Brundtland Commission, is accepted as the guiding principle on environment and development issues, by the international community. The report also drew attention of the international community to the crucial prospective contribution by indigenous ecological knowledge towards resolving global environmental issues and preventing further deterioration of environment and natural resources. Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge has been receiving validity in decision-making today. Indigenous communities generally construct policies that allow successful resource management. They respected nature’s carrying capacity and threshold limits and had management approaches for ecological resilience and regeneration. Intimate association of indigenous communities with nature and their dependency on natural resources are the key secrets behind indigenous ecological knowledge. Indigenous ecological knowledge can provide valuable ecological and biological insights into sustainable use of resources and their regeneration. Vast potential of indigenous ecological knowledge, for its meaningful use in finding solutions to cope with global environmental change, remains yet untapped. The introductory chapter discusses various aspects of indigenous ecological knowledge, its integration with modern scientific knowledge and its role in coping with the global environmental change.

Karim-Aly S. Kassam: Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Human Ecology in the Arctic

*Background/Question/Methods* In our increasingly urban world, indigenous knowledge of local ecology is declining rapidly, because survival in industrialized urban environments does not depend on knowing the details of local flora, fauna, or phenologies. While traditional ecological knowledge has been documented since 1980s, this is has been largely descriptive, e.g., ethnobotany of sacred groves, cultivation practices, or use of medicinal plants. Until recently, conservation biologists and managers of protected areas have followed western models of conservation that exclude local people and often abandon local ecological knowledge. However, many scientific studies of local ecosystems would not have been possible without the knowledge-base of indigenous people helping researchers. Yet, careful scientific analysis of such knowledge systems is scarce, except in some commercial applications such as forestry or fisheries. Further, even in rare instances when park managers have recruited knowledgeable locals as partners in PA management, the bureaucracy ended up dissipating ecological knowledge rather than sustaining it. The challenge therefore is to understand the epistemology of ecological knowledge, especially the costs and benefits to local people, to help create novel management regimes which provide new incentives for sustaining such knowledge even as traditional dependencies on natural resources are transformed for long-term sustainability of biodiversity. *Results/Conclusions* This paper reviews the literature on indigenous ecological knowledge in South Asia, to establish a baseline for systematic epistemological analyses. Examples include the Bihari bird-trappers assisting the Bombay Natural History Society's bird-ringing projects, Irulas helping snake research at Madras Crocodile Bank, Kanis supporting a variety of research projects, including our own, in Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve over the past two decades, and the modern day settlers in Andaman Islands who have turned from over-harvesting and poaching to sustainable cultivation of Edible-nest Swiftlets. We argue that indigenous knowledge is useful not only for monitoring ecosystems or determining use of natural resources, but more importantly for generating fundamental scientific insights, and adding to the knowledge part of our collective social capital. Even as indigenous knowledge is being lost, volunteer-based Citizen Science projects are recruiting amateur naturalists, especially in urban areas, to monitor and study local biodiversity. Such approaches need to be extended into genuinely participatory research programs where indigenous people are engaged in generating and sustaining ecological knowledge, from traditional and modern scientific perspectives, to become well-informed stewards of the socio-ecological systems we inhabit from local to global scales. This is a crucial step towards slowing the loss of biodiversity by reversing our collective loss of knowledge of biodiversity.

Integrating indigenous ecological and scientific hydro-geological knowledge using a Bayesian Network in the context of water resource development

Contemporary savanna management and policy in northern Australia rely on scientific studies undertaken over only a few decades. Indigenous ecological and management knowledge can complement the scientific material by providing a substantial long-term knowledge resource for contemporary decision-making, yet has been poorly regarded, under-utilised, and misinterpreted. This thesis explores the published historical material on indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) in order to provide an analysis of its relevance for contemporary management. It analyses some legal impediments to contemporary application of traditional practices, and examines some contemporary management which utilise traditional practices. Over two centuries, publications on indigenous savanna people showed that they actively managed their resources. The 19th century record showed that Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory lit fires throughout the northern dry seasons. This finding is consistent with findings for the whole northern savannas, and corrects a previous misinterpretation of the data. Fire was observed to be a principal land management tool, but indigenous people also manipulated their physical environments by developing water resources and fisheries to enhance natural resource availability. Historical observations were affected by dramatic social changes to indigenous people, as pristine indigenous societies receded with the advance of the colonisers, decades ahead of anthropologists and other observers. Interpretation of the historical observations must consider, therefore, that observed practices may have been modified by contact with the colonisers. Bushfire legislation in northern Australia prohibits burning for most of the dry seasons, the period when most fires are lit. Legislation and practices present conflicting purposes, as the legislation does not account for applied fire, and may be detrimental to best fire practice. Finally, the debate about the extent to which use of fire by Aboriginal peoples shaped the landscapes and biota is contentious, as are attempts to re-establish customary practice. Aboriginal practice has been dismissed as pyromania, and consequences for management as incidental outcomes. We argue that this view is at odds with available evidence, and suggest that misunderstanding arises from contrasting views of objectives, values and goals of land managers. We illustrate our argument with examples and propose mechanisms for wider application of Aboriginal prescriptions.

Natural resources in northern regions are often data-limited because they are difficult and expensive to access. Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) can provide information similar to, different from, or complementary to Western scientific data (WSD). We evaluated the general hypothesis that congruence in outcomes of IEK and WSD for population monitoring parameters is determined by temporal and spatial scale of the knowledge type. Parameters included population structure, degree of philopatry, morphological variation (and conservation status for one species), and genomics was a key Western scientific method. We evaluated this hypothesis in three subsistence and recreational fisheries (walleye, lake trout, and northern pike) in Mistassini Lake, Quebec, Canada. Concordance of outcomes was varied. IEK provided richer information on the biology, distribution, and morphological variation observable with the eyes. However, IEK cannot “see” into the genome, and WSD identified population structure and history more precisely than IEK. Both knowledge types could “see” change in populations, and the nature of what was seen both converged and was complementary. Determining when IEK and WSD are complementary or reach common conclusions may allow Indigenous communities to use both together, or one knowledge type over another when either is more desired, appropriate, or time- or cost-efficient to adopt.

Increased interest in indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) has led to concern that it is vulnerable amidst social and ecological change. In response, multiple authors have recommended the establishment of programs for the maintenance and revitalization of IEK systems. However, few studies have analyzed the methods, opportunities, and challenges of these programs. This is a critical gap, as IEK maintenance is challenging and will require layered and evidence-based solutions. We seek to build a foundation for future approaches to IEK maintenance. First, we present a systematic literature review of IEK maintenance programs (n = 39) and discuss the opportunities and challenges inherent in five broad groups of published approaches. Second, we use two case studies from the Republic of Vanuatu to illustrate these challenges in more depth. The first case study takes a community-based approach, which has inherent strengths (e.g., localized organization). It has, however, faced practical (e.g., funding) and epistemological (changing modes of knowledge transmission) challenges. The second case study seeks to facilitate IEK transmission within the formal school system. Although this model has potential, it has faced significant challenges (e.g., lack of institutional linkages). We conclude that supporting and strengthening IEK is important but that serious attention is needed to account for the social, situated, and dynamic nature of IEK. In closing, we use the review and case studies to propose four principles that may guide adaptive and flexible approaches for the future maintenance of IEK systems.