Trees in Early Irish Law and Lore: Respect for Other-Than-Human Life in Europe's History

The Sendai and Hyogo Frameworks emphasize integrating modern science with Indigenous knowledge, a bottom-up community-based disaster management approach. However, a top-down disaster management mechanism and a lack of awareness about Indigenous knowledge are part of the current reality in Taiwan. This study chose the great Cinsbu, an Atayal community in Taiwan, as a case study area, using interviews to explore traditional ecological knowledge in Indigenous people’s daily lives. The study also applies a bottom-up, community-based approach through workshops. This study’s goals are to apply Indigenous knowledge to improve community disaster planning and to work with communities to assist them in utilizing their (Indigenous) knowledge and resources. As a key to achieving disaster resilience, the study highlights three approaches based on traditional ecological knowledge: the natural environment, agriculture production, and social capital. The natural environment approach integrates modern science and traditional ecological knowledge through community risk mapping. The agriculture production approach conserves seeds and stores food using traditional methods, such as pickling and storing in traditional barns. The social capital approach establishes a disaster management organization based on social networking. Finally, the community develops hazard preparedness and disaster response measures based on traditional ecological knowledge. These measures can be integrated with existing disaster management to form a specific mechanism for Indigenous communities.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is intrinsically linked with traditional local communities and their ways and conditions of living. The social learning dimension offered by TEK seems to be largely overlooked. TEK places climate action in context and makes it more tangible for the general public. Building on synergies between traditional ecological and hydro meteorological scientific knowledge contributes to building capacity and improving adaptive coping strategies at the local level. This can make a valuable contribution to enhancing robustness of adaptation efforts, devising collaborative and resilient management, and enabling reduction of vulnerability in the Arctic and beyond.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Natural Resource Management examines how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is taught and practiced today among Native communities. Of special interest is the complex relationship between indigenous ecological practices and other ways of interacting with the environment, particularly regional and national programs of natural resource management. Focusing primarily on the northwest coast of North America, scholars look at the challenges and opportunities confronting the local practice of indigenous ecological knowledge in a range of communities, including the Tsimshian, the Nisga’a, the Tlingit, the Gitksan, the Kwagult, the Sto:lo, and the northern Dene in the Yukon. The experts consider how traditional knowledge is taught and learned and address the cultural importance of different subsistence practices using natural elements such as seaweed (Gitga’a), pine mushrooms (Tsimshian), and salmon (Tlingit). Several contributors discuss the extent to which national and regional programs of resource management need to include models of TEK in their planning and execution. This volume highlights the different ways of seeing and engaging with the natural world and underscores the need to acknowledge and honor the ways that indigenous peoples have done so for generations.

Contemporary Western attitudes concerning the management of natural re- sources, treatment of nonhuman animals, and the natural world emerge from traditions derived from Western European philosophy, i.e., they assume that humans are autonomous from, and in control of, the natural world. A different approach is presented by Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of indigenous peoples of North America. Although spiritually oriented, TEK converges on Western scientific approaches. TEK is based on close obser- vation of nature and natural phenomena; however, it is combined with a concept of com- munity membership that differs from that of Western political and social thought. TEK is strongly tied to specific physical localities; therefore, all aspects of the physical space can be considered part of the community, including animals, plants, and landforms. As a con- sequence, native worldviews can be considered to be spatially oriented, in contrast to the temporal orientation of Western political and historical thought. TEK also emphasizes the idea that individual plants and animals exist on their own terms. This sense of place and concern for individuals leads to two basic TEK concepts: (1) all things are connected, which is conceptually related to Western community ecology, and (2) all things are related, which changes the emphasis from the human to the ecological community as the focus of theories concerning nature. Connectedness and relatedness are involved in the clan systems of many indigenous peoples, where nonhuman organisms are recognized as relatives whom the humans are obliged to treat with respect and honor. Convergence of TEK and Western science suggests that there may be areas in which TEK can contribute insights, or possibly even new concepts, to Western science. TEK is inherently multidisciplinary in that it links the human and the nonhuman, and is the basis not only for indigenous concepts of nature, but also for concepts of indigenous politics and ethics. This multidisciplinary aspect sug- gests that TEK may be useful in resolving conflicts involving a variety of stakeholders and interest groups in controversies over natural resource use, animal rights, and conservation. TEK may also have implications for human behavior and obligations toward other forms of life that are often unrecognized, or at least not emphasized, in Western science. We present examples from community and behavioral ecology where a TEK-based approach yielded unexpected and nonintuitive insights into natural phenomena. Understanding of TEK may be useful in helping scientists respond to the changing public perceptions of science, and new cultural pressures in our society.

Scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) is a powerful discipline for diagnosing and analyzing environmental degradation, but has been far less successful in devising sustainable solutions which lie at the intersection of nature and culture. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of indigenous and local peoples is rich in prescriptions for the philosophy and practice of reciprocal, mutualistic relationships with the earth. Scientists and policy makers all over the world are calling for incorporation of the wisdom of TEK into natural resource planning and environmental policy. TEK has a legitimate place in the education of the next generation of environmental scientists, yet this body of knowledge and the process by which it is generated are virtually absent from the environmental science classroom. Integrating TEK and SEK holds a great promise for broadening and deepening the teaching of environmental science, yet the challenges to such integration are significant in the mainstream classroom. I have found that key elements of this integration include fostering intellectual pluralism in a student population largely unaware of other epistemologies by: (1) clear and disciplined analysis of how TEK and SEK are grounded in different worldviews. Mutually respectful evaluation of the divergences and convergences of these epistemologies creates the foundation for critical examination of how synergy might be created between them; (2) engagement of the indigenous pedagogy of direct, experiential learning in which the land and its inhabitants are recognized as primary knowledge sources; (3) holistic engagement of multiple elements of human capacity: mind, body, emotion, and spirit, not just the intellect which is exclusively privileged in conventional environmental science education; (4) recognition that in indigenous approaches, knowledge and responsibility are inextricably linked, so the course content and approach simultaneously cultivate the responsibility that accompanies knowledge acquisition, including protection and appropriate use of cultural knowledge; and (5) recognition that the mutually exclusive duality between matter and spirit which is essential to the scientific worldview is bridged in TEK where material and spiritual explanations, the secular and the sacred, may simultaneously coexist.

Finding Balance between Human Need and Global Stewardship

This study explores how Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) affects community behavior related to environmental health and disease prevention. Traditional Ecological Knowledge, which includes customary practices, cultural beliefs, and local wisdom, plays a crucial role in how communities interact with their environment. Focusing on the relationship between Traditional Ecological Knowledge and public health, this study investigates how indigenous peoples utilize traditional ecological knowledge to maintain and maintain natural beauty, natural habitats, environmental cleanliness, utilize available facilities, infrastructure, natural potential, reduce health risks, and prevent the spread of disease. The study used qualitative methods, including interviews and field observations, to collect data from community members who actively practiced Traditional Ecological Knowledge in their daily lives. The findings suggest that TEK-based behaviors, such as natural resource management, traditional medicine use, and community-led environmental monitoring, significantly contribute to reducing the incidence of waterborne diseases, improving sanitation, and fostering overall environmental resilience. This study underscores the importance of integrating and synergizing Traditional Ecological Knowledge into modern public health frameworks, demonstrating that recognizing and preserving indigenous knowledge systems (Traditional Knowledge) can enhance community-based approaches to disease prevention and environmental sustainability. The study concludes that encouraging collaboration between traditional and modern health practices is key to developing more effective and efficient strategies for safeguarding the health of the environment and people.

<p>The value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has been recognised and discussed widely in the literature and in public media over the last six decades. Over the same time period, the declining trend in TEK has been frequently reported across multiple case studies in every major region of the globe. As a result, a great number of international agreements (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) have been established in attempt to protect indigenous rights. However, in many cases these agreements have not transformed into concrete TEK conservation actions at the ground level. Several key literature gaps are identified through this research: the lack of a review of 1) global patterns in the status of TEK; 2) threats to TEK; 3) TEK conservation options; 4) the lack of standard classification systems of TEK threats and conservation actions; 5) the status of TEK and conservation of TEK in Inner Mongolia China is largely unknown to the outside world; and 6) the limited understanding of the role of government policy on TEK trajectories in Inner Mongolia. To develop TEK threat and conservation action typologies is one major target of this research. This is because a standard classification system provides a common language for practitioners to identify problems and solutions, and to communicate across projects. More importantly, it provides a tool for identifying global patterns of TEK and creating a global network and common databases for TEK monitoring, thus to inform conservation actions. However, such a system is missing from the current literature. Part one of this research applied a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a global survey (n=137), its follow-up interviews (n=46), and a comprehensive literature review (n=152). The qualitative data analysis produced 1) a typology of TEK threats; 2) an analysis of the complex causal web among all TEK threats; 3) a typology of conservation actions; 4) the triggers and barriers to TEK conservation success; and 5) three design principles for effective TEK conservation. The quantitative data analysis explored 1) the responses’ geographical distribution; 2) the overall trend of TEK change; and 3) the significance of different categories of TEK threats and conservation options. Part two of this research is a case study in Inner Mongolia with two critical outputs: 1) an examination of the impact of Chinese government policies on traditional resource management institutions over time; and 2) an application of the TEK typologies to analyse the current status of TEK and possible interventions in Inner Mongolia. The study applied three qualitative research methods: semi-structured interviews (n=91), group discussion (n=5 with 64 participants), and participant observation (eight weeks). The study found that in general government policies (from the1950s – 2007) had negatively affected Mongolian TEK and almost destroyed traditional institutions. However, the new Cooperative Law (2007) may positively impact local TEK by supporting community cooperative organisations and their activities of revitalising traditional herding practices, collective working relationships and traditional leadership. Through applying the typologies to the case study, this research provides a model of how to identify TEK threats and design conservation actions in real-world situations. Three core messages emerged from this research: 1) dealing with TEK threats and applying TEK conservation have to take a social-ecological system approach, in which social, political, cultural, economic and ecological aspects are all embedded; 2) the design and implementation of TEK conservation have to be cross-scale arrangements, in which the institutions from the local level up to the national and international levels are accommodated; and 3) power relations are at the core of achieving sustainable resource management and effective community empowerment. The cooperation between different levels of organisations and among different groups at the same levels requires appropriate power sharing. In a word, TEK is a complex, dynamic and systematic issue, TEK threats take place at multiple levels simultaneously. Therefore, to deal with TEK threats needs a complex, adaptive and systematic approach with holistic worldviews as the intellectual foundation.</p>

<p>The value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has been recognised and discussed widely in the literature and in public media over the last six decades. Over the same time period, the declining trend in TEK has been frequently reported across multiple case studies in every major region of the globe. As a result, a great number of international agreements (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) have been established in attempt to protect indigenous rights. However, in many cases these agreements have not transformed into concrete TEK conservation actions at the ground level. Several key literature gaps are identified through this research: the lack of a review of 1) global patterns in the status of TEK; 2) threats to TEK; 3) TEK conservation options; 4) the lack of standard classification systems of TEK threats and conservation actions; 5) the status of TEK and conservation of TEK in Inner Mongolia China is largely unknown to the outside world; and 6) the limited understanding of the role of government policy on TEK trajectories in Inner Mongolia. To develop TEK threat and conservation action typologies is one major target of this research. This is because a standard classification system provides a common language for practitioners to identify problems and solutions, and to communicate across projects. More importantly, it provides a tool for identifying global patterns of TEK and creating a global network and common databases for TEK monitoring, thus to inform conservation actions. However, such a system is missing from the current literature. Part one of this research applied a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a global survey (n=137), its follow-up interviews (n=46), and a comprehensive literature review (n=152). The qualitative data analysis produced 1) a typology of TEK threats; 2) an analysis of the complex causal web among all TEK threats; 3) a typology of conservation actions; 4) the triggers and barriers to TEK conservation success; and 5) three design principles for effective TEK conservation. The quantitative data analysis explored 1) the responses’ geographical distribution; 2) the overall trend of TEK change; and 3) the significance of different categories of TEK threats and conservation options. Part two of this research is a case study in Inner Mongolia with two critical outputs: 1) an examination of the impact of Chinese government policies on traditional resource management institutions over time; and 2) an application of the TEK typologies to analyse the current status of TEK and possible interventions in Inner Mongolia. The study applied three qualitative research methods: semi-structured interviews (n=91), group discussion (n=5 with 64 participants), and participant observation (eight weeks). The study found that in general government policies (from the1950s – 2007) had negatively affected Mongolian TEK and almost destroyed traditional institutions. However, the new Cooperative Law (2007) may positively impact local TEK by supporting community cooperative organisations and their activities of revitalising traditional herding practices, collective working relationships and traditional leadership. Through applying the typologies to the case study, this research provides a model of how to identify TEK threats and design conservation actions in real-world situations. Three core messages emerged from this research: 1) dealing with TEK threats and applying TEK conservation have to take a social-ecological system approach, in which social, political, cultural, economic and ecological aspects are all embedded; 2) the design and implementation of TEK conservation have to be cross-scale arrangements, in which the institutions from the local level up to the national and international levels are accommodated; and 3) power relations are at the core of achieving sustainable resource management and effective community empowerment. The cooperation between different levels of organisations and among different groups at the same levels requires appropriate power sharing. In a word, TEK is a complex, dynamic and systematic issue, TEK threats take place at multiple levels simultaneously. Therefore, to deal with TEK threats needs a complex, adaptive and systematic approach with holistic worldviews as the intellectual foundation.</p>

Humans who interact directly with local ecosystems possess traditional ecological knowledge that enables them to detect and predict ecosystem changes. Humans who use scientific ecological methods can use species such as mollusks that lay down annual growth rings to detect past environmental variation and use statistical models to make predictions about future change. We used traditional ecological knowledge shared by local Inupiaq, combined with growth histories of two species of mollusks, at different trophic levels, to study local change in the coastal ecosystems of Kotzebue, Alaska, an area in the Arctic without continuous scientific monitoring. For the mollusks, a combination of the Arctic Oscillation and total Arctic ice coverage, and summer air temperature and summer precipitation explained 79-80% of the interannual variability in growth of the suspension feeding Greenland cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) and the predatory whelk (Neptunea hero) respectively, indicating these mollusks seem to be impacted by local and regional environmental parameters, and should be good biomonitors for change in coastal Alaska. The change experts within the Kotzebue community were the elders and the fishers, and they observed changes in species abundance and behaviors, including benthic species, and infer that a fundamental change in the climate has taken place within the area. We conclude combining traditional and scientific ecological knowledge provides greater insight than either approach alone, and offers a powerful way to document change in an area that otherwise lacks widespread quantitative monitoring.

<p>Rainfall-induced floods and landslides have occurred and caused devastating impacts in recent years in Japan, and adaptation to natural disaster risks is a key to the sustainability of local communities. Traditional ecological knowledge in Japanese communities exists abundantly, such as those in disaster risk reduction and natural resource use, and it has been passed down from generation to generation. These traditional knowledge and skills have been used to benefit from nature’s gifts or ecosystem services as well as to avoid devastating impacts from natural disasters. Collaboration and cooperation by diverse stakeholders are crucial for recognizing and utilizing traditional ecological knowledge in actual solutions and actions. In this presentation, I introduce how traditional ecological knowledge has been used in disaster risk reduction in Mikatagoko Lakes area located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Rainfall-induced floods occur frequently in this area, but traditional land use helps to reduce inundation damage of houses and conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services including local food culture. Embankment built around the lakes has been renovated not only for flood risk reduction but also for biodiversity conservation, also supported by traditional ecological knowledge in this area. The Mikatagoko nature restoration committee, in which diverse local stakeholders participate and collaborate, has played a significant role in these actions and solutions. Our experiences suggest that transdisciplinary ecosystem-based approaches contribute to the sustainability of local communities and the collaborative platform among local stakeholders is important in taking advantage of traditional ecological knowledge in actual solutions and actions.</p>

Native trees and shrubs are essential components of rural landscapes in the semi-arid inner-Andean valleys of Bolivia. They can be found as hedges and bushes in various agroecosystems such as terrace walls, slopes, field boundaries and fallow land. Their distribution and floristic composition are the result of dynamic spatial and temporal interactions between local farmers and the environment. Local uses of natural resources and biodiversity reflect the constantly evolving Andean culture, which can be generally characterised as an intertwining of the human, natural, and spiritual worlds. The aim of the present ethnobotanical study was to analyse the dynamics of traditional ecological knowledge, to ascertain local farmers’ perceptions and uses of native woody species in Andean communities and to associate the results with local conservation activities for the trees and shrubs concerned. Our case study was carried out within two communities of the Tunari National Park (Dept. Cochabamba) in Bolivia. For data collection, research methods from social science (semi-structured interviews, participative observation, participatory mapping) as well as vegetation surveys were combined. Local actors included women and men of all ages as well as families from different social categories and altitudinal levels of permanent residence. Our study indicates that, due to a multitude of socio-economic pressures (e.g. migration of young people) as well as changes in use of biodiversity (e.g. replacement of native by exotic introduced species), the traditional ecological knowledge base of native trees and shrubs and their respective uses has become diminished over time. In many cases it has led to a decline in people’s awareness of native species and as a consequence their practical, emotional and spiritual relationships with them have been lost. However, results also show that applied traditional ecological knowledge has led to local conservation strategies, which have succeeded in protecting those tree and shrub species which are most widely regarded for their multifunctional, constant and exclusive uses (e.g. Schinus molle, Prosopis laevigata, Baccharis dracunculifolia). The presentation will discuss the question if and how applied traditional ecological knowledge positively contributes to local initiatives of sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in rural areas.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has become a focus of increasing attention by natural resource managers over the past decade, particularly in the context of the shared management authority between resource users and government agencies (co-management). Little work has been done on how TEK can be successfully integrated with science and applied in contemporary science-based resource management institutions, and the efficacy and legitimacy of co-management and associated attempts to document TEK or integrate it with science have recently been questioned. The cooperative research programme of one co-management group, the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC), was studied to describe how TEK and science are integrated and applied in the research process, document perceptions and attitudes of native hunters and scientists towards TEK and science, and identify organizational characteristics that facilitate knowledge integration. Hunters and TEK played a variety of roles in ABWC's research programme, including hypothesis generation, sample collection and data interpretation. Hunters and scientists defined TEK similarly, but differed in their views of science, which hunters often perceived as a tool of state control. Despite political undercurrents, the ABWC displayed several indicators of successful knowledge integration. Organizational characteristics that facilitated integration included a membership structure fostering genuine power-sharing and a range of opportunities for formal and informal interactions among hunters and scientists leading to long-term relationships and an organizational culture of open communication and transparency in decision-making. Given the importance of long-term relationships between scientists and hunters for successful knowledge integration, this study raises questions about (1) the potential for meaningful integration in short-term projects such as environmental impact assessment and (2) the use of TEK documentation studies in the absence of other forms of active participation by TEK- holders.

Abstract: Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) represents multiple bodies of knowledge accumulated through many generations of close interactions between people and the natural world. TEK and its application via customary ecological management plans can be useful in modern conservation programs. I disaggregate the term TEK into its constituent parts and show several ways in which TEK can strengthen research designs by increasing locality‐specific knowledge, including environmental linkages occurring in those localities. Examples of the uses of TEK in conservation include folk taxonomy in systematics in Micronesia, species knowledge for conservation in Kiribati, and fishers' knowledge of ecological interactions for reserve design in Belize. When conservationists recognize the utility of TEK, they can engage in an equitable exchange of knowledge and foster shared responsibility with indigenous people. These types of exchanges can also provide an opportunity for indigenous people to develop a scientific infrastructure.

Indigenous populations are projected to face disproportionate impacts as a result of climate change in comparison to nonindigenous populations. For this reason, many American Indian and Alaska Native tribes are identifying and implementing culturally appropriate strategies to assess climate impacts and adapt to projected changes. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), as the indigenous knowledge system is called, has the potential to play a central role in both indigenous and nonindigenous climate change initiatives. The detection of environmental changes, the development of strategies to adapt to these changes, and the implementation of sustainable land-management principles are all important climate action items that can be informed by TEK. Although there is a significant body of literature on traditional knowledge, this synthesis examines literature that specifically explores the relationship between TEK and climate change. The synthesis describes the potential role of TEK in climate change assessment and adaptation efforts. It also identifies some of the challenges and benefits associated with merging TEK with Western science, and reviews the way in which federal policies and administrative practices facilitate or challenge the incorporation of TEK in climate change initiatives. The synthesis highlights examples of how tribes and others are including TEK into climate research, education, and resource planning and explores strategies to incorporate TEK into climate change policy, assessments, and adaptation efforts at national, regional, and local levels.