Ethnoecological Research Research Articles

Ethnoecological perspectives on environmental stewardship: Tenets and basis of reciprocity in Gitxsan and nłeʔkepmx (Nlaka'pamux) Territories

AbstractLocal and Indigenous Peoples steward and protect a significant proportion of biologically diverse ecosystems globally. This fact is increasingly acknowledged by researchers and international organizations, offering both opportunities and challenges at the intersection of Indigenous and western knowledge production in the context of environmental management research and policy.Drawing on half a century of ethnoecological research and personal experiences in Gitxsan and nłeʔkepmx Territories in the Pacific Northwest of North America, this research considers the role of reciprocity as an inherent philosophy and tenet for successful environmental stewardship.Reciprocity is a legal responsibility and moral perspective that foregrounds many Indigenous worldviews. Such cultural drivers and obligations towards lands and biota appear to be unknown, marginalized or instrumentalized in mainstream and western science and policy.We conclude that fundamental elements of reciprocity may not be adequately blended or braided into western environmental management frameworks. As such, alternatives to blending include acknowledging sole proprietary and self‐determining rights for Indigenous Peoples to govern and steward lands outside of western infrastructures and value systems.This study raises critical questions about the feasibility of reconciling reciprocity with western environmental management practices and regulations. It explores the implications for Indigenous rights and sovereignty, and climate change mitigation. By addressing these complex issues, we contribute to ongoing discourse on the integration of Indigenous and western knowledge in environmental stewardship research, and the ethical, historical and cultural challenges that come with it.Read the freePlain Language Summaryfor this article on the Journal blog.

The “Guamúchil” cultivation in a Mexican cultural landscape: A wild food source for people and birds

Indigenous management of biocultural resources can influence behavior of non-target animals. Hence, identifying shared resources between indigenous communities and fauna is essential to understand the ecological relationships that occur within cultural landscapes and promote sustainable practices. In this ethnoecological research we analyzed the feeding importance of a wild food that is used by both people and birds. We employed unstructured interviews and a survey to learn about food resources used by people of a Nahua community in western Mexico. Trees were frequently mentioned by locals; thus, we determined salience and cultural meaning of arboreal feeding sources for the indigenous community. The “Guamúchil” or Manila tamarind (Pithecellobium dulce) was the most bioculturally salient tree for the feeding and economy of local people, and we evaluated its significance for birds too. We analyzed avian foraging behavior to estimate the number of species that used the tree as a food source, the relevance of Guamúchil as foraging substrate, food types provided by this tree, and the avian feeding use of Guamúchil when it was locally employed as a live fence. We observed that local people tracked fruiting Guamúchil across the landscape and cultivated it in homegardens to facilitate fruit access. Seed pods were locally appreciated for direct consumption by households and commercialization. Guamúchil’s cover was low in the surrounding forest (mean: 0.4, standard deviation: 0.7), but much higher in homegardens (mean: 20.9, standard deviation: 16.3). We estimated that about a fourth of the avian species that foraged across the cultural landscape during our sampling feed on Guamúchil. Birds prey on invertebrates associated with this tree, but Guamúchil was mostly important to avian foraging for the fruit it produces. We determined that live fences of Guamúchil functioned as complementary food sources to birds. Our research shows how humans and birds share key feeding resources within cultural landscapes. Also, we depict how indigenous agroforestry practices positively impact wildlife foraging, which should be promoted as conservation and restoration tools to support sustainability. Identifying key foods and analyzing their use might facilitate the development of activities aimed to benefiting both humans and animal communities.

Participatory mapping and fishers’ knowledge about fish and shrimp migration in a subtropical coastal ecosystem

Fishers’ ecological knowledge (FEK) has contributed to studies on the reproduction and migration of fish and marine invertebrates. With increasing accessibility to information technologies, several surveys have begun to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to access FEK through participatory mapping. Scientific knowledge on migration of fishery resources is fundamental to properly support initiatives for fisheries management. However, the technologies available to study migration are usually expensive and require several years of sampling. Our objective was to use GIS to access FEK and to identify the migration patterns of five fishery resources in a subtropical coastal ecosystem of the Southern Atlantic Ocean: the white catfish - Genidens barbus, the fat snook - Centropomus parallelus, the common snook - Centropomus undecimalis, the Atlantic spadefish - Chaetodipterus faber and the white shrimp - Litopenaeus schmitti. We interviewed 132 fishers in the Paranaguá estuarine complex and its adjacent coastal zone, Brazil. Of these fishers, 39 participated in the participatory mapping process. Our results based on FEK indicated that the migration of fishery resources is reproductive and occurs mainly in the later spring and summer when the species enter or exit the estuarine complex from coastal zone. The participatory mapping results indicated that G. barbus and C. faber migrate from the coastal zone to the estuary, while Centropomus species and the shrimp L. schmitti exit the estuary towards the coastal zone. The information generated by FEK and the methods used should be considered in future studies on ethno ecological research and to understand reproductive migration of these species. Furthermore, these observations could support fisheries management and environmental impact assessment of infrastructure projects.

Перспективы этноэкологических исследований культуры коренных народов российского Дальнего Востока

Перспективы этноэкологических исследований культуры коренных народов российского Дальнего Востока

Hawaiian seascapes and landscapes: reconstructing elements of a Polynesian ecological knowledge system

Early western appreciations of the Hawaiian way of life in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries suggested the pre-contact presence of highly structured regional chiefdoms and well-developed political economies founded upon elaborate knowledge of maritime and terrestrial environments. These first brief reports were substantiated and amplified in the mid- and late nineteenth-century published works of Native Hawaiian scholars who described a number of named landscape and seascape elements from which Hawaiians drew most of their subsistence base and material culture. Beginning in the 1950s, ethnologists, archaeologists and other investigators built upon these earlier accounts while studying Polynesian colonisation and occupation of Hawai‘i. From the 1960s to the present, this research trajectory expanded into Hawaiian human ecology and political economy, refining former portraits of the subsistence strategies, environmental modifications and ecological knowledge employed by Hawaiians before Euro-American acculturative forces radically changed customary land-use patterns. Using an innovative theoretical framework recently proposed for ethnoecological research by Eugene Hunn and the author as the analytical backdrop, this paper will draw upon these sources, as well as new data from the Hawaiian Native Register of land claims (1846–1862) and unpublished contemporary reports, to evaluate aspects of traditional Hawaiian ecological knowledge as it may have existed to order and permit exploitation of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century marine and terrestrial environments.

Studying Children's Cultural Knowledge and Behaviors Related to Environment, Health, and Food: Methods for Ethnoecological Research with Children

Children's ethnoecological knowledge and behaviors related to the environment, health, and food can differ significantly from those of the adults around them. It can be difficult to design studies to capture these differences because standard ethnographic methods do not necessarily translate well to fieldwork with children. We review and evaluate the range of tools useful for eliciting children's (birth to age 12) cultural knowledge and behavior across the domains of health, food, and the environment, identifying the characteristics of different methods (e.g., what type of data they produce, their fit with types of research questions, ages with which they have been used, analytical tools, advantages, and disadvantages). Methods examined include systematic observation in situ (time scans or spot observations), focal follows, photo and video elicitation, artwork, photovoice, video diaries, scrapbooking, oral semi-structured interviews, focus groups, written surveys and diaries, object identification and sorting, attribution tasks, and narrative picture book tasks. We find several opportunities to strengthen ethnoecological research with children. These include regularly disclosing and discussing the challenges and details of using informed consent and conducting new research to understand the impacts of integrating technologies with other methods to collect ethnoecological data with children. Careful consideration of methods is important for rigorous research and this article serves as a tool for researchers working with or considering working with children, to expand the body of research engaging with and analyzing children's unique cultures.

A CAPTURA DO CARANGUEJO-Uí­"¡Á (Ucides cordatus) NO SISTEMA ESTUARINO DE SANTOS-SÃO VICENTE: A ETNOECOLOGIA DOS CATADORES DE CARANGUEJO DA VILA DOS PESCADORES, CUBATÃO (SP), BRASIL

O caranguejo-uçá (Ucides cordatus) é um recurso pesqueiro utilizado pelos pescadores artesanais da Baixada Santista, litoral paulista, sendo importante para a subsistência de inúmeras famí­­lias. A partir de 2014, restrições legais í­Â captura desta espécie motivaram ações para a regulamentação dos catadores de caranguejo dessa região. Como parte deste processo, foi realizada uma pesquisa etnoecológica. Dentre os agrupamentos de pescadores da região, a Vila dos Pescadores, em Cubatão (SP), consiste no mais importante em relação í­Â cata do caranguejo-uçá. Entre junho/2015 e abril/2016, foram aplicadas entrevistas estruturadas aos catadores de caranguejo, na própria localidade. Os resultados obtidos quanto o perfil socioeconômico e produtivo dos catadores, as diferentes formas de manejo e regras de uso do recurso, a comercialização do produto, bem como os problemas e possí­­veis ações visando a melhoria das condições de vida dos catadores são discutidos no presente trabalho. Os resultados apresentados serão úteis para subsidiar ações de ordenamento da captura, bem como no reconhecimento dos pescadores que dependem deste recurso pesqueiro.

Towards an Interdisciplinary Focus on Sound in Ethnobiology Research

Research on perception and ecological knowledge in ethnobiology has primarily focused on sight, in tandem with taste, smell, and touch. Sound, however, has been largely neglected as a topical or methodological focus. This review addresses research in ethnomusicology and soundscape ecology to suggest how attention to sound could open new avenues and add value to ethnoecological research.

Sustainable development of Philippine coastal resources: Subsidiarity in ethnoecology through inclusive participatory education

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, with a population of over 100 million people dependent upon marine resources which are characterised by a decline in both biodiversity and abundance. The resultant large sector of fisherfolk is generally impoverished with limited education, which makes coastal adult education and lifelong learning a national priority. This article considers the Filipino fisherfolk community as a culture to identify potential input strategies regarding education development for marine science concepts. In a study piloting cultural consensus theory applications with a well-established fisherfolk organisation, the authors focus on the lack of dialogue engaging Philippine fisherfolk with standards of international marine science, bioregional resource partitioning and reflexive in-country education development. Cross-cultural strategies considered in this paper include exploring paraprofessional approaches to adult education, accommodating several dialects/languages and drawing on international science concepts. While earlier adult education initiatives aimed at fisherfolk may have had limited success in part due to a lack of cultural context, this pilot study is innovative in that it applies an existing Filipino form of social artistry to fisherfolk identity, expression and communication. Siningbayan [Sining = art, bayan = nation or town], or art whose canvas is society evolved through the Philippine history of organic networking and participation. Results confirm that a structured ethnoecological research design combined with Siningbayan appear effective for identifying education and curriculum specifics both for the fisherfolk sector of Filipino society and for professional marine science; their common goal being improved resource management. The authors place particular emphasis on subsidiarity, considering how best to transfer information to individual fisherfolk and their communities, as well as exploring their scaled-up role in leadership, organisational and professional development.

Seeds of Persistence: Agrobiodiversity in theAmericanMountainSouth

AbstractProfessorRobertE.Rhoades worked for four decades to construct a comparative, international anthropology of mountain agrobiodiversity. This paper presents research in the tradition ofRhoades's applied agrobiodiversity studies. Baseline landrace inventories were compiled fromAppalachia and theOzarkHighlands,UnitedStates, based on in‐depth ethnoecological research. Results illustrate that southern/centralAppalachia is the most diverse foodshed at the varietal level in theUnitedStates,Canada, and northernMexico studied to date. Examples of how this research has contributed to severalin situagrobiodiversity conservation projects are provided.

Down deep in the holler: chasing seeds and stories in southern Appalachia

This essay, which is the third in the series “Recollections, Reflections, and Revelations: Ethnobiologists and their First Time in the Field”, is a personal reflection by the researcher on his experience and involvement in kinship and friendship networks while conducting agrobiodiversity research in southern Appalachia, USA. Vignettes are given from moving moments spent with Native spiritual leaders, backcountry mountain people, and local co-collaborators in the research process. The author demonstrates how lasting field friendships have helped lead to groundbreaking ethnoecological research.

Jotï ecogony, Venezuelan Amazon

The current environmental crisis permeates the discourse and concerns of people all over the world. Consideration of diverse environmental ethics showing the alternative ways in which people conceptualize and relate to nature and natural resources are critical for bringing about more sustainable human behaviors. After a brief review of Western historical notions of nature, this work explores the ecogony, or causal reasons, that trigger the behavior of the Jotï, an Amerindian people of the Venezuelan Amazon, with other entities and the forest that they inhabit. The analysis presented synthesizes 15 years of transdisciplinary ethno-ecological research comprising quantitative and qualitative methods (collection of herbarium voucher specimens, floristic inventories in forest plots, structured interviews focused on plot vegetation, semi-structured interviews of life-histories, participant observation, time allocation studies, food resource accounting, focal person following observations, garden crop inventories and censuses, mapping of wild resource harvest locations, among others). Jotï pragmatic and ideological tenets generate a distinctive environmental ethics based on ecogonic nodes. Notions of interdependence, humanity and person are articulated on a daily basis through several dynamics: (1) hyper-awareness of all living things’ dependence on each other and other elements of the biophysical environment at macroscales and microscales, (2) the construction of human spiritual, conscious, physical and agentive constituents from a variety of diverse botanical and zoological species and mineral components of their homeland, and (3) an understanding of the aggregate surroundings, including a significant portion of the biotic and abiotic components, as potential subjects with awareness, creativity and moral stances. This condition of interdependence confers rights and duties on all the parts. Jotï horizontal communications with and among life-forms sustain their condition as committed actors in the configuration of the forests that they inhabit.

Classification of pasture habitats by Hungarian herders in a steppe landscape (Hungary)

BackgroundLandscape ethnoecology focuses on the ecological features of the landscape, how the landscape is perceived, and used by people who live in it. Though studying folk classifications of species has a long history, the comparative study of habitat classifications is just beginning. I studied the habitat classification of herders in a Hungarian steppe, and compared it to classifications of botanists and laymen.MethodsFor a quantitative analysis the picture sort method was used. Twenty-three pictures of 7-11 habitat types were sorted by 25 herders.’Density’ of pictures along the habitat gradient of the Hortobágy salt steppe was set as equal as possible, but pictures differed in their dominant species, wetness, season, etc. Before sorts, herders were asked to describe pictures to assure proper recognition of habitats.ResultsHerders classified the images into three main groups: (1) fertile habitats at the higher parts of the habitat gradient (partos, lit. on the shore); (2) saline habitats (szík, lit. salt or saline place), and (3) meadows and marshes (lapos, lit. flooded) at the lower end of the habitat gradient. Sharpness of delimitation changed along the gradient. Saline habitats were the most isolated from the rest. Botanists identified 6 groups. Laymen grouped habitats in a less coherent way.As opposed to my expectations, botanical classification was not more structured than that done by herders. I expected and found high correspondence between the classifications by herders, botanists and laymen. All tended to recognize similar main groups: wetlands, ”good grass” and dry/saline habitats. Two main factors could have been responsible for similar classifications: salient features correlated (e.g. salinity recognizable by herders and botanists but not by laymen correlated with the density of grasslands or height of vegetation recognizable also for laymen), or the same salient features were used as a basis for sorting (wetness, and abiotic stress).ConclusionsDespite all the difficulties of studying habitat classifications (more implicit, more variable knowledge than knowledge on species), conducting landscape ethnoecological research will inevitably reveal a deeper human understanding of biological organization at a supraspecific level, where natural discontinuities are less sharp than at the species or population level.

Disappearance of the glacier on Mama Cotacachi: ethnoecological research and climate change in the Ecuadorian Andes

A first documented case study of a disappearing glacier in the snow capped volcano Cotacahi in Ecuador is presented with the studies belonging to the social sciences in relation to climate change and its impact on the population of the Equatorial Andes. With the use of multiple source methodology, including ethnographic analyzes, visual representations, repetitive photography, critical mapping by the local communities, longitudinal surveys, even archival research, as well as interviews to social actors and utilization of spatial data in a geographical information system (GIS). It is concluded that the documented disappearance of the glacier on the Cotacahi serves as an urgent call for action to the important dearth of social research related to global change from the ethnoecological perspective, with a cultural, local approach.

Classifying physical geographic features: the case of maninka farmers in southwestern mali

.This article argues that understanding how people classify physical geographic features is necessary for identifying fundamental, cross‐cultural geographic concepts that are required for successful communication of geographic knowledge. Academic geographers have not given sufficient attention to systems of local geographic knowledge, even though promising theoretical frameworks exist, particularly in the field of ethnoecology. However, the research approach that has characterized ethnoecology is insufficient to develop ethnogeography as a field of inquiry, because ethnoecologists have overemphasized limited aspects of local knowledge systems, such as soils, which has often led researchers to incompletely sample local knowledge systems. Using ethnographic methods, this article analyses the content and structure of physical geographic knowledge in the Maninka language as spoken in southwestern Mali, and compares Maninka knowledge to that of other cultural groups. The results suggest that broad physical geographic concepts may be shared pan‐environmentally, but that most physical geographic knowledge is contained in culturally specific classifications embedded within a broad cross‐cultural framework. Academic geographers should expect only broad correspondence between their categories of physical geographic variation and those of people who classify biophysical features according to local knowledge systems. Finally, this article also shows that ethnoecological research will be advanced if geographic theories of place are given more prominence in ethnoecological studies.

Global localism: Recentering the research agenda for biodiversity conservation

Abstract Global environmental crisis narratives about biodiversity loss promote conservation research on how human activities impact natural resources and link scientific findings to protectionist policies. This paper critiques how local knowledge, over space and through time, is constructed for these studies and integrated with ecological measures and qualitative interpretations of biodiversity conditions. As a case example, we describe how ethnoecological research at Mt. Kasigau, a biodiversity hot spot in Southeastern Kenya, changes ‘scientific’ views on human–resource relations. Species richness in woody plants and local knowledge about trees show resource continua on the mountain that question the designation of diverse undisturbed forests and degraded human‐utilized lands. Local narratives document spatially dynamic and adaptive relationships between the Kasigau Taita and their plant resources as they moved up and down the mountain in response to environmental conditions and extra local forces. We argue that greater ‘local learning’ about local places is important to hypothesizing and potentially guiding ‘global action’ for biodiversity conservation.

Seeking Women's Participation in Ethnoecological Fieldwork

Introduction As studies increasingly show differences in human experiences according to sex and gender, researchers are recognizing the importance of equitable gender representation of research participants. In studies of traditional ecological knowledge, while it is accepted that differences exist between men's and women's physiology that may affect their ability to metabolize a medicine (Sica et al. 2005), concepts like community and local often mask the gendered nature of cultural knowledge. This is not to say that men and women cannot possess the same knowledge; however, there are often cultural factors that can lead to gendered knowledge spheres' especially in cultures where gender roles are clearly defined and interaction between genders is limited. While most researchers who seek to understand and document local knowledge aim to include both male and female participants, in societies with unequal and segregated gender dynamics this may be easier said than done. Women are often less educated, more reserved, and under cultural restraints that do not allow them to work alongside male researchers or participants. Here I discuss some of the challenges I faced, how I overcame them, and what benefits I received by trying to include women in my field research. My hope is that readers can use this case to think of how it applies to their own research and how they can increase participation of persons from all genders or underrepresented groups. As ethnoecological research often seeks to assess the positive and negative impacts of human activities on socio-ecological systems, to disregard genderdifferentiated activities could grossly underestimate socio-ecological effects,2 and/or introduce a strong bias to the data. Some researchers choose to limit the scope of their question to only one gender, but in ecological research, many effects are synergistic and limiting the scope of the question may actually limit the explanatory power of the results. Here I discuss the methods employed to engage women during my field research on how local knowledge can inform conservation in Niger's Park-W biosphere reserve. Although the challenges discussed are not unique to that location, I draw on examples from my fieldwork in southwest Niger, so I will first briefly explain key elements of the culture and history of this region. Niger has a long history of gender segregation that at first glance seems to relegate women to a position lacking power and means. The national statistics often quoted to summarize the status of women are dreary: literate women make up only seven percent of the national population. Seventeen, the average age at which women get married, is one of the lowest in the region, and the average number of children (7.9) and maternal mortality rates (1/7) are among the highest (United Nations 2006:156-168). Unreported are some advantages for women such as their right to divorce and their right to separate incomes. In parliament, there are only a token number of women in positions that are culturally suited to and created for them. Yet at the same time, there are several powerful female leaders in both the traditional government and religious arenas. In fact, Niger has a duel governance policy in which there are traditional counterparts to any government officials at the state, regional and local level and policy making is split between these two arenas. The traditional governments have distinct male and female spheres of influence and power that operate simultaneously. While these are important facts for practitioners, development agents, and aid workers, these also have implications for participatory researchers. The research project that provides the context for the analysis is situated in the tri-national biosphere reserve, Park W.3 I work with a team of conservation agents, students and villagers to assess the conservation status of the region and ascertain the positive and negative impact of different human activities on the plant communities in and out of Park W. …

Ethnoecology as Applied Anthropology in Amazonian Development

Social and ecological devastation in Amazonia necessitates alternative strategies for sustained, ecologically sound development. The study of indigenous ecological knowledge (ethnoecology) is shown to offer the bases for these new strategies. Six categories of folk knowledge are explored: gathered products, game, aquaculture, agriculture, resource units and cosmology. A set of recommendations for systematic ethnoecological research is offered, the application of which will not only identify new categories of resources, but also offer alternative resource management strategies to bring the benefits of development to all residents of Amazonia.