Local Environmental Knowledge Research Articles

"Living in the time of the butterfly:" Engaging more-than-human temporalities to rethink biodiversity conservation

This article describes the ecological accounts of Jñato and Hñähñu (also known as Mazahua and Otomi) people who inhabit a territory that is today the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in México. We draw on their narratives, documented through a multiyear historical and ethnographic study, to discuss multispecies temporalities and reciprocal relations across more-than-human entities. Analyzing local environmental knowledge through "deep time" and relational perspectives, we invite conservation and environmental studies scholars to reconsider epistemological assumptions about time and the Anthropocene. We do so by documenting the multispecies rhythms and temporalities maintained in our research sites from time immemorial. In contrast with linear notions of time, these rhythms operate cyclically through reciprocal gifting between plants, humans, and other entities such as a water spirits and witches. The "deep time" lens that such practices offer, we suggest, can enrich biodiversity conservation and more-than-human political ecologies. We conclude by stressing that this relational "world-making" is also power-laden. Political identities are embedded in, and reconstructed through, a complex political economy and uneven relations of knowledge production. Together, these constitute what we call "the time of the butterfly."

Using environmental education to nurture positive human–wildlife interactions in India

AbstractEnvironmental education has the potential to help reduce negative human–wildlife interactions by increasing positive attitudes toward wildlife and providing participants with knowledge and skills that can help mitigate conflict situations and promote safety. To promote positive human–wildlife relationships, effective programs could be implemented widely in areas near remote wildlife reserves and protected areas. We created and evaluated a new environmental education program for 10‐ to 13‐year‐old students in rural schools in India where human–wildlife conflicts with large mammals frequently occur. Between July 2019 and March 2020, we tested the program at 129 schools, reaching 4331 students. The program, which was iteratively designed to fit the local context, is both cost‐effective and scalable. We found that participation in the program resulted in a significant positive increase in local environmental knowledge, in knowledge of safe behaviors, and in some measures of environmental attitudes. This paper reports on the lessons learned while creating this program that may help other organizations interested in using environmental education in regions where negative human–wildlife interactions frequently occur.

"An Excellent Hunter": Environmental Creolization and the Paths to Freedom in Nineteenth-Century Amazonia

Abstract: If slave societies in the Atlantic world were based on "creole ecologies," that is, on bringing enslaved African workers to the Americas to cultivate an Asian crop (sugar), then how would those workers' acquisition of environmental knowledge alter such a project? In this article I argue that a fruitful response to that question lies in the concept of environmental creolization: the process of familiarization with New World environments that enslaved people from Africa developed upon arriving in the Americas. After tracing its origins in the convergence between the historiographies of transatlantic slavery and environmental history, I discuss the trajectories of three Black individuals living in nineteenth-century Amazonia who used their knowledge of local environments to carve better working conditions inside the institution, and to slowly exit it. Their cases not only illustrate the centrality of environmental knowledge in the tropical and forested areas of the Americas, but also illuminate how a successful environmental creolization greatly impacted contests over autonomy and freedom throughout the Atlantic world.

30,000 years of fishing in the Philippines: New ichthyoarchaeological investigations in Occidental Mindoro

Marine adaptations are considered to have been significant factors in the evolution of our species (Homo sapiens). As humans dispersed from Africa around 100 kya, marine resources provided essential nutrients in island environments of the tropical Southeast Asian seas. The Philippine archipelago has revealed significant evidence of early human settlement during this period of coastal migration. Yet, despite being a global marine biodiversity hotspot, few studies have investigated prehistoric marine adaptations there. In this study, we focus on the analysis of fish bones from three sites in Occidental Mindoro, Philippines: Bubog I, Bubog II, and Bilat Cave with the aim of enhancing the understanding of H. sapiens' coastal adaptations and maritime interactions since at least 32,000 BP. We utilized expanded skeletal element identification protocols to determine the lowest taxonomic level possible, combined with diversity indices. The analyses indicate that H. sapiens on Mindoro mostly exploited near-shore environments, with temporal variations in fishing practices reflecting differences in site occupation intensity and periods of climate-mediated habitat change. Inter-site variations in fishing practices are likely related to disparities in local marine habitats. Spatiotemporal differences in marine environments influenced the development of diverse fishing methods and technologies, demonstrating a detailed knowledge of local aquatic environments and the adaptability of modern humans in Island Southeast Asia since the Pleistocene.

Exploring resilience in public services within marginalised communities during COVID-19: The case of coal mining regions in Colombia

This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on marginalised communities and its effects on the provision of public services. Focusing on two coal mining regions in Colombia during the pandemic crisis, and examining Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, we analyze the provision of public services at a local level, identifying both shortcomings and resilience. Findings show that the lack of resilient public services amplified the effects of COVID-19 and its containment measures, exacerbating existing structural inequalities within local marginalised communities. It also reinforced the control exercised by coal mining companies within local economies. However, the substantial lack of public service provision also provided space for the development and strengthening of several resilience strategies among local communities, such as solidarity networks and schemes and the revitalization of local environmental knowledge. The study identifies multiple shortcomings in how the national and local administrations handled the COVID-19 outbreak and highlights the potential of enhancing resilience in public services to support marginalised communities in times of crisis.

Nature and equity

AbstractComplex challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, and global inequality may require intertwined solutions forged through the frame of “Nature and equity.” This timely frame responds to growing calls for conservation to deliver fair outcomes to people and offers strategic value for meeting environmental goals. To clarify how and why approaches that support nature and equity may emerge, this commentary draws on conservation efforts in five different social and political settings. Building on practitioner experiences in Australia, Chile, Kenya, Peru, and Solomon Islands, it identifies a set of equity instruments that recognize local environmental knowledge, rights, and practices, strengthen marginalized voices, and promote fair outcomes, and the enabling conditions that facilitate their use. The article concludes by discussing critical considerations for enhancing nature and equity.

Social Innovation Perspective of Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation: A Framework-Based Study of Ladakh, India

Indigenous knowledge of local environments is crucial for developing innovative and contextual climate change adaptation strategies. Although the significance of community-led efforts based on this knowledge has been well acknowledged, they have not been effectively incorporated into mainstream development processes. The mountainous region of Ladakh presents a novel case of water storage in the form of ice reservoirs as an adaptive strategy against intensified water scarcity. This study aims to assess community-based innovations in climate change adaptation strategies and find solutions for their effective integration. This study theorizes a framework for Social Innovation in Climate Change Adaptation (SICCA) for a structured analysis of the situation in Ladakh. This research was conducted through interviews, surveys, Geographic Information System-based mapping, and field observations to analyze the use of ice reservoirs as a solution to water scarcity issues. The results demonstrate the wide recognition of these techniques’ effectiveness and the role of the community in the planning, execution, and operation of the initiatives. The findings highlight the challenges in their scaling up and diffusion. The research emphasizes the need to recognize and value community-based adaptation strategies to address the challenges posed by climate change. It offers recommendations for integrating them into the mainstream development process, and the framework serves as a significant outcome to guide policymakers and civil society actors for practical implementation.

LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AFFECTING SUSTAINABILITY PERCEPTION OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR

The objective of research was to predict the local environmental law knowledge affecting sustainability perception of local administrators. The populations were local administrators of Sub-district Administrative Organization (SAO) of Maha Sarakham Province in fiscal year of 2022. The Simple Random Sampling technique was conducted with 400 local administrators. The questionnaire used an instrument for data collection. Multiple Regression Analysis is an inferential statistic for data analysis. Descriptive statistics were mean, and standard deviation. The finding showed that the prediction equation of relationship between independent variables of Local Policy 1, Local Policy 2, Local Policy 3, and Local Policy 4. These 4 local policy affected to sustainability perception of local administrator of Maha Sarakham province. The results illustrated the prediction power of Local Policy 1, Local Policy 2, Local Policy 3, and Local Policy 4 were 68.80%, 67.60%, 72.20% and 73.40% respectively. To accomplish the local sustainability, the proper local environmental policy formulation is a critical part that should be paid attention because the local environmental policy will issue the good plan and action for local administrators to be a best guideline to implement and persuade the local people to actively participate and collaborate in environment and ecosystem conservation with correctly knowledge and clear understanding in all aspects of local environmental policy such as raise the level of maturity in managing natural resources and environment and building partnerships in managing natural resources and environment.

The impacts of climate change on surfing resources

Surfing has increased in cultural, social, and economic importance through the last century and is now globally significant. Predicated on the natural phenomenon of ocean waves interacting with coasts, surfing’s future is threatened by Earth’s changing climate. This paper provides a comprehensive review of physical processes, including swell generation, wave breaking, and coastal dynamics, relevant for the locations — surf breaks — where surfing occurs and the myriad mechanisms through which each can be affected by a changing climate. We propose an organizing framework for these impacts characterizing them based on their mode of action as direct versus indirect, as well as by their magnitude, and conclude that some impacts (such as sea level rise) may threaten some breaks but on more protracted timelines, whereas other impacts (such as coastal armoring implemented in response to climate change) may pose more immediate, existential threats. This framework underscores the importance of local environmental knowledge of a given surf break for understanding its susceptibility to climate change and informs a Surf Break Vulnerability–Climate Change Assessment Tool (SurfCAT), designed to enable improved wave stewardship by local resource managers and stakeholders in the face of a changing climate.

Relationships between places of residence, injury, and death: Spatial and statistical analysis of fatal opioid overdoses across Massachusetts

Understanding the factors associated with where people who use opioids live, where their fatal overdoses occur, and where deaths are recorded can improve our knowledge of local risk environments and inform intervention planning. Through geospatial analyses of death certificate data between 2015 and 2017, we found that a majority of opioid-involved fatal overdoses in Massachusetts occurred at home. Age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.03; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.04), living in a census tract with a higher percentage of crowded households (AOR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.08), households without vehicles (AOR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.02), and Hispanic ethnicity (AOR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.42-0.74) were independently associated with fatal overdose at home. Using geographically weighted regression, we identified locations where these associations were stronger and could benefit most from home-based and culturally sensitive overdose prevention efforts, including expanded overdose education and naloxone distribution.

Le rôle des connaissances environnementales traditionnelles dans les toponymes Taytnapam

The Taytnapam are a poorly known Indigenous community of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. They lived in the upper Cowlitz River watershed relatively undisturbed by Euro-American colonization until late in the 1800s, avoiding the more radical depopulation and dislocation suffered by neighboring Native communities due to introduced diseases and colonial settlement. A majority of descendants are now citizens of the Yakama Nation and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. The linguist Melville Jacobs published a detailed inventory of Taytnapam place names dictated to him in 1927 by two elderly consultants in the local Ichishkíin (Sahaptin) dialect. A substantial fraction of these toponyms refer directly or indirectly to local plants and animals, illustrating the power of local environmental knowledge for anchoring Taytnapam to their traditional lands. Traditional geographic narratives, such as those of Taytnapam elders Jim Yoke and Louis Castama, served a critical pedagogical role in educating the young with respect to native livelihoods. Of an inventory of over 300 Indigenous Taytnapam toponyms, some 60 of these name plant or animal species while others highlight Traditional Environmental Knowledge with regard to key habitats and seasonal patterns. It is noteworthy that Taytnapam elders attribute these names to Coyote, primal messenger of the Creator, herald of the traditional law, tamánwit, which established proper order in the universe. The names are thus “not made by man.”

The mental map as an instrument to define indicators in complex systems: an application on the environmental knowledge of local horticultural farmers

Abstract: The reductionist and disciplinary paradigm of the Green Revolution coexists with the emerging paradigm of complexity, which values the holistic and the interdisciplinary. Agroecology promotes the need to understand the multiple biophysical relationships that exist in agroecosystems, and this calls for the development of new methodological tools. Sustainability indicators are an example of this. However, their implementation is not simple, as this requires an instrument to simplify the construction of such indicators. The objective of this work is to use the “mental map” as a guide for the development and application of indicators. The graph follows the conceptual path that facilitates the understanding of the variable and its breakdown into smaller and measurable units of analysis, i.e. the indicators. The created mental map has two stages: the development of indicators and their application. Its utility is presented in a case study that addresses local environmental knowledge (LEK). The results of this work show that complexity can be translated into quantifiable, measurable, and comparable variables, without this representing the loss of its characteristics. In addition, it proves that the created tool facilitates the evaluation and understanding of the functioning of agroecosystems, which contributes to decision-making.

Toward productive complicity: Applying ‘traditional ecological knowledge’ in environmental science

Culture and tradition have long been the domains of social science, particularly social/cultural anthropology and various forms of heritage studies. However, many environmental scientists whose research addresses environmental management, conservation, and restoration are also interested in traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous and local knowledge, and local environmental knowledge (hereafter TEK), not least because policymakers and international institutions promote the incorporation of TEK in environmental work. In this article, we examine TEK usage in peer-reviewed articles by environmental scientists published in 2020. This snapshot of environmental science scholarship includes both critical discussions of how to incorporate TEK in research and management and efforts to do so for various scholarly and applied purposes. Drawing on anthropological discussions of culture, we identify two related patterns within this literature: a tendency toward essentialism and a tendency to minimize power relationships. We argue that scientists whose work reflects these trends might productively engage with knowledge from the scientific fields that study culture and tradition. We suggest productive complicity as a reflexive mode of partnering, and a set of questions that facilitate natural scientists adopting this approach: What and/or who is this TEK for? Who and what will benefit from this TEK deployment? How is compensation/credit shared? Does this work give back and/or forward to all those involved?

Navigating local environment and scientific knowledge in dryland social-ecological systems through linking ecological policy-household interactions with land surface dynamics

As the Earth enters the Anthropocene, the system complexity and site-specificity of dryland social-ecological systems (SESs) presents new challenges for realizing the target of land degradation neutrality (LDN) in drylands. The valuable local environmental and scientific knowledge (LESK) of dryland SESs is crucial for adaptive governance but remains scarce. Here, we proposed an analytical framework to understand the LESK in relation to the mechanisms of ecological policy-household interactions and ecological performance of resource systems. According to this framework, we explored LESK by linking land surface dynamics and investigations of policy and households in a typical dryland region, Minqin. We reported that ecological policy contributed to significant socio-ecological benefits, including increased water resources, land desertification reduction, and natural vegetation restoration. However, there exist conflicting aspects, demonstrated by the encroachment of agricultural land, which increases the land degradation risk of oasis. These results implied that top-down ecological policy and bottom-up household responses caused both positive and negative LDN outcomes, which can be attributed to collective and conflicted actions between the self-interest orientation of multiple stakeholders. By investigating households, we found that education-induced economic need was one of the major drivers for the conflicted actions on the policy of agricultural land reduction. Therefore, we proposed a series of adaptive measurements to balance short-term economic concerns and long-term LDN. This study also highlighted that navigated LESK should be considered for future sustainable management and ecosystem modeling.

Perspectives of climate change: A comparison of scientific understanding and local interpretations by different Western Siberian communities.

We present a study of social effects of climate change as experienced by local communities, based on field research and analysis in Western Siberia, from southern taiga to tundra. The results of field anthropological research reveal different attitudes of local residents to climate change. We compare the key trends of climate change with the perspectives of local residents, based on memories, subjective experiences, and local environmental knowledge. Our results highlight a significant divergence of the subjective assessments of residents from objective data on the dynamics of changes in certain environmental elements. We explore how the human subjective perception of natural processes, their consequences and impacts, are influenced by such factors as: type of settlement, age, gender, level of education and how collective stereotypes and judgments merge information in attitude formation. We also address the need to reconcile observed climate change impacts and perceptions to enable decision-makers to engage more constructively with the local population to develop and implement adaptation.

Interdisciplinary Water Development in the Peruvian Highlands: The Case for Including the Coproduction of Knowledge in Socio-Hydrology

Agrarian communities in the Peruvian Andes depend on local water resources that are threatened by both a changing climate and changes in the socio-politics of water allocation. A community’s local autonomy over water resources and its capacity to plan for a sustainable and secure water future depends, in part, on integrated local environmental knowledge (ILEK), which leverages and blends traditional and western scientific approaches to knowledge production. Over the course of a two-year collaborative water development project with the agrarian district of Zurite, we designed and implemented an applied model of socio-hydrology focused on the coproduction of knowledge among scientists, local knowledge-holders and students. Our approach leveraged knowledge across academic disciplines and cultures, trained students to be valued producers of knowledge, and, most importantly, integrated the needs and concerns of the community. The result is a community-based ILEK that informs sustainable land and water management and has the potential to increase local autonomy over water resources. Furthermore, the direct link between interdisciplinary water science and community benefits empowered students to pursue careers in water development. The long-term benefits of our approach support the inclusion of knowledge coproduction among scholars, students and, in particular, community members, in applied studies of socio-hydrology.

Tourism and "eco-ethnicity": the challenges of environmental soft power for minorities in highland Asia (China, Laos, Nepal)

This article tests the following hypothesis: What we call “eco-ethnicity” – the dual images of ethnic and environmental identity of a group – can explain to a large extent the empowerment of local groups; being endowed with significant eco-ethnicity could thus provide substantial “soft power” to a group from tourism. The paper is based on qualitative fieldwork research comparing three highland case studies in Nepal (Annapurna), China (Guizhou) and Laos (Louang Namtha). There, local tourism highlights ethnicity and local environmental knowledge, although to very different extents. In conclusion, eco-ethnicity does not appear to be a decisive factor for economic empowerment.

El Niño “The Boy” – Local Stories and Global Satellites in the Pacific Ocean [Video

Global climate patterns such as El Niño are not simply the outcome of scientific modeling derived from satellite images and other ocean temperature sensing technologies. El Niño first emerged as a narrative through local stories of extreme weather events, preserved by the people of the coastal countries of South America, Indonesia and Asia. This rich local environmental knowledge of extreme weather events and the storms, floods, droughts, and famine it causes in these regions, went largely unnoticed in the northern hemisphere. Only in the 1980s and 1990s did El Niño become part of the new scientific imagery of a global environmental science. Although the ocean gained both public and scientific recognition as a main agent of global climate patterns, the scientific integration of El Niño into global climate models and their forecasting has so far not led to the prevention of local environmental catastrophes. Instead, science changed how “the catastrophic” is perceived. <br> Video available at: https://vimeo.com/527398121

Environmental education, social justice and teacher education: Enabling meaningful environmental learning in local contexts

Short (2010, 7) indicates that continued global population growth, technological advancement and subsequent burdens on the natural world from consumer demands during the 20th century has led to many environmental issues and concerns. According to (Edwards 2011) the resultant or consequent problems in the environment could reach levels that could push the planet to levels of ecological disaster. Evidence of ecosystem destruction, human induced climate change, social injustice and increasing economic strife is mounting in many parts of the world. Environmental Education (EE) has often been mentioned as an important response to the issues mentioned above, but if EE is to contribute to the transformation to sustainable living, teachers have a vital role to play. Thus, teacher education programmes need to prepare preservice adequately for these challenges arising in the 21st century. This exploratory theoretical article reviews approaches and ideas for the development of curriculum for environment related education in teacher education programmes. I draw on the work of Short (2002) related to place based collaborative knowledge production and Jickling and Wals (2008), active and co-operative learning in context, to inform curriculum development possibilities for EE. The research highlights the importance of active participation for meaningful environmental learning and presents arguments for including local environmental issues and knowledge development during the practicum as key activities to enable meaningful environmental learning and social justice in teacher education programmes.

The Colonisation of Uplands in Medieval Britain and Ireland: Climate, Agriculture and Environmental Adaptation

THE STUDY OF HOW MEDIEVAL FARMERS colonised upland environments, and lived there on a year-round basis, can provide valuable insights on the long-term adaptability and resilience of rural communities. Yet there is a lack of clarity on the extent and chronology of this phenomenon in Britain and Ireland, and how to explain it without simplistic climate, population or market determinism. By undertaking a critical review of the evidence for upland colonisation across medieval Britain and Ireland, this article demonstrates that ‘glocal’ perspectives are crucial. Locally favourable geology, non-agrarian resources, and prior domestication of sites through prehistoric settlement and transhumance all encouraged upland colonisation. Indeed, when combined with regional socio-economic trends, these local factors sometimes overrode wider climatic conditions. As researchers look increasingly to large-scale modelling of land-use change, this article provides a reminder not to lose sight of the local landscape context and environmental knowledge of the peoples they are studying.