Indigenous Resource Management Research Articles

Does globalisation impact indigenous knowledge and resource management practices today? An analytical perspective in sustainable development from a remote village in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India

Does globalisation impact indigenous knowledge and resource management practices today? An analytical perspective in sustainable development from a remote village in Kinnaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India

MANAGEMENT OF INDIGENOUS RESOURCES FOR PROMOTION OF INDIGENOUS TOURISM: A STUDY OF SELECTED TRIBAL DISTRICTS OF MADHYA PRADESH

This research article aims to explore indigenous tourism and people, which is a hidden tourist treasure that can be showcased to the outer world for future research gaps. This study is an attempt to reflect the problems, concepts, scope, Government tourism policies, objectives, hypothesis research design, and limitations in the first chapter, followed by an extensive review of the literature to understand the impacts of indigenous tourism on indigenous community, perspectives of the indigenous community of promotion of indigenous tourism, management of indigenous resources, and tourist demands. Data was collected from the tourist respondents who are the direct beneficiaries of indigenous tourism at Balaghat, Mandla, and Dindori districts. In this backdrop, the study aims to portray the trend of results for making Indigenous tourism a viable business option by branding and positioning the study area in the international tourist map. Two questionnaires, one for tourists and another for the indigenous community, were made. The analysis of tourist data is in three parts. The first part is related to the demographic profile of tourists. The second part includes travel-related information, and the third part includes tourist activity. The analysis of community data is in three parts. The first part is related to the demographic profile of the community. The second part includes the impact of indigenous tourism on the community, and the third part includes perspectives of indigenous communities on indigenous tourism promotion. The findings reflect the socio-demographic profile of the members of the community. The tourist questionnaire yielded valuable insights with respect to travel information, preferences and behaviour, as well as activities undertaken by the tourists. The underlying factors influencing the impact of tourism on the community were found to be 1) Creation of Human Resources, 2) Social Incapacity, 3) Conservation Focus, 4) Community Awareness and Participation, 5) Promotion of Local Products, and 6) Infrastructure Improvement. Suggestions have been put forward in connection to developing a better understanding of the target customer, and the tourist market in general; recreation and accommodation options; further research, promotion programs, branding; and greater focus in the making of tourism policy.

Morphometric characteristics and microsatellite markers based diversity and differentiation recognizes the first prospective cattle breed from the Jharkhand state of India

India is bestowed with immense cattle biodiversity with 50 registered breeds. However, the majority (59.3%) is yet not characterized. Identification and characterization are the gateways to the management of prized indigenous resources. Present research described a unique cattle population of Jharkhand state, managed under a traditional low-input, low-output system. It was characterized by morphological traits, performance parameters, and management practices. Animals have the characteristic pre-scapular location of the hump. Genetic variation within this population and its differentiation with the six closely distributed cattle breeds were evaluated using FAO recommended microsatellite markers. Jharkhandi cattle have substantial genetic variation based on gene diversity (>0.6) and the average number of alleles per locus (>8). The population did not suffer from a genetic bottleneck in the recent past. Pairwise Nei’s genetic distance, phylogenetic relationship, population differentiation, and the correct assignment of all the animals to self group substantiated its separate genetic identity. Since gene flow (Nm = 2.8–7.32) was identified and admixture was indicated by the Bayesian analysis there is a pressing need for scientific management of this population. Results endow authorities with critical information for registering a new Indian cattle breed (Medini) that contributes to the food security, livelihood, and economic sustainability of rural tribal households.

Indigenous organic resources utilization, application methods and sowing time replenish soil nitrogen and increase maize yield and total dry biomass

Wise management of indigenous resources replenishes soil nutrients and improves crop productivity and soil sustainability. Three year consecutive experiments were performed in the framework of Farmers Field School (FFS) during 2012–2014. Organic nitrogen sources [animal-urine (AU), animal-manures (AM), and animal manure-compost (AMC) with two application methods [interior-application method (IAM) and exterior-application method (EAM)] and three sowing timing [early sowing (ES), late-sowing (LS), and timely sowing (TS)] were studied. One control plot in each replication was placed as a check. The results showed that among different sowing time, TS has higher grains year−1, 1000 grains weight, dry biomass, grain yield and harvest index (HI) than LS and ES. AM delayed silking and physiological maturation. A higher grains year−1, 1000 grains weight, grain yield, total dry biomass, and HI were observed with AMC than control plots. In application methods, the IAM has delayed the silking and physiological maturity as compared to EAM. Similarly, higher grains year−1, 1000 grains weight, grain yield, dry biomass, and HI were observed with IAM than EAM. In sowing timing, higher grain nitrogen (GN) was observed in TS. Higher GN produced by AMC and AU treated plots. AMC produced 10% higher GN than manures treated plots. The IAM produced higher GN than EAM. The AMC produced significantly higher soil N and statistically at par with AU treated plots. IAM applied AMC, maize grain yield was higher than the AU and AM. In conclusion, AMC and AU embedded in soil with TS can sustainably increase maize yield and soil productivity.

Feeling "Superstitious": Affect and the Land in the Marquesas Islands

For many Indigenous peoples, ancestral lands are a source of nourishment, strength, and sovereignty that counteracts colonial legacies of violence and hegemony. However, the feelings associated with place and the land can also be complicated by embodied fear and ambivalence. What happens when the remnants of colonialism feed feelings of ambivalence, shame, or fear of the land? How do these lasting emotional scars on Indigenous minds and bodies impact Native place-making, today? This paper problematizes the role of ancestral lands and affective place-making in shaping Indigenous identity, sovereignty, resource management, and sustainability. In the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia, ancestral places are felt as much as seen, and the spirits that dwell there can be dangerous. The active concealment of these Marquesan reactions and relationships to place illustrates the blending of colonial and Indigenous histories and values in ambivalent, affective experiences on the land. Thus, even as islanders work to revitalize their traditional culture and build a sustainable future based on ancestral places, reticence complicates local relationships to the land and the vital hopes they represent. As global sustainability efforts emphasize the conservation of lands inhabited by Indigenous communities, recognizing the conflicted, emplaced emotions and experiences of local peoples will be a key part of understanding such areas and how to preserve them.

Length-weight relationship, growth pattern and condition factor of four indigenous cypriniform Schizothorax species from Vishav Stream of Kashmir Himalaya, India

The indigenous Schizothorax spp. in the valley of Kashmir are facing constant threats and decline in their overall population. The current aim was to analyse the comparative length-weight relationship (LWRs) and condition factor (K) of 350 specimens belonging to four Schizothorax spp. (S. plagiostomus, S. esocinus, S. labiatus and S. curvifrons) from the Vishav Stream of Kashmir Himalaya, India. The fish specimens were sampled for a period of one year from April 2018 to March 2019. The results revealed that the growth coefficient ‘b’ in all the four Schizothorax spp. was found very close to 3, indicating an isometric growth pattern. No significant difference in the ‘b’ values of four Schizothorax spp. was found when compared with the isometric value (t-test: p > 0.05). The mean value of the ‘K’ for S. plagiostomus, S. esocinus, S. curvifrons and for S. labiatus were 0.81 ± 0.07, 0.80 ± 0.08, 0.85 ± 0.08 and 0.88 ± 0.12 respectively. The mean condition factor did not vary across four species (ANOVA: p > 0.05). The present findings could serve as baseline information for the management, stock assessment and future studies of indigenous capture fishery resources of the Vishav Stream and other similar habitats.

Harvesting strategies as evidence for 4000 years of camas (Camassia quamash) management in the North American Columbia Plateau.

One of the greatest archaeological enigmas is in understanding the role of decision-making, intentionality and interventions in plant life cycles by foraging peoples in transitions to and from low-level food production practices. We bring together archaeological, palaeoclimatological and botanical data to explore relationships over the past 4000 years between people and camas (Camassia quamash), a perennial geophyte with an edible bulb common across the North American Pacific Northwest. In this region throughout the late Holocene, people began experimenting with selective harvesting practices through targeting sexually mature bulbs by 3500 cal BP, with bulb harvesting practices akin to ethnographic descriptions firmly established by 1000 cal BP. While we find no evidence that such interventions lead to a selection for larger bulbs or a reduction in time to maturity, archaeological bulbs do exhibit several other domestication syndrome traits. This establishes considerable continuity to human intervention into camas life cycles, but these dynamic relationships did not result in unequivocal morphological indications of domestication. This approach to tracking forager plant management practices offers an alternative explanatory framework to conventional management studies, supplements oral histories of Indigenous traditional resource management and can be applied to other vegetatively propagated species.

The role of indigenous practices in expanding waterbird habitat in the face of rising seas

In Hawai‘i, as is the case globally, sea level rise threatens the availability of suitable habitat for waterbirds and other coastal species. This study examines Hawaiian wetland agro-ecosystems (loʻi) as social-ecological systems that may meet human needs while expanding nesting habitat of endangered waterbirds, if restored under an Indigenous Resource Management paradigm. We applied spatial analysis to project: (1) the area of existing waterbird habitat likely lost to sea level rise by the end of the century (2100); and (2) the area of waterbird habitat potentially gained through restoration of lo‘i systems. Results show that, if loʻi offer similar or equivalent habitat value to Hawaiian waterbirds as conventionally managed wetlands, the restoration of loʻi would not only compensate for projected losses of wetland habitat due to sea level rise, but substantially contribute toward the recovery of endangered waterbirds that are currently habitat-limited. This study demonstrates capacity for contemporary Indigenous land management to address conservation and food-security needs in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as challenges of multi-objective land use and habitat restoration for endangered wetland-dependent fauna. This research further contributes toward a growing number of studies suggesting that Indigenous practices based on social-ecological frameworks offer potential to achieve sustainability and biodiversity goals simultaneously.

Indigenous resource management systems as models for librarianship: I waiwai ka ‘āina

This commentary suggests a (k)new model for the practice of Indigenous librarianship that positions a traditional natural resource management system as a metaphor for library practices. By detailing the experiences of Native Hawaiian librarians working with materials and collections representing Hawaiian knowledge, the article discusses specific Hawaiian natural resource management principles (kapu, kūlana, waiwai, and lele), and explores their possible applications in library contexts. The result is a description of Hawaiian librarianship grounded in Hawaiian values and practices with the goal of best serving Hawaiian communities.

Understanding the co-evolutionary relationships between Indigenous cultures and non-native species can inform more effective approaches to conservation: the example of pigs (pua’a;

Indigenous resource management (IRM) is dynamic and ever evolving, in part because it is based on co-evolutionary relationships between Indigenous cultures and the biodiversity around them. Forms of conservation imposed on Indigenous people and places by settler-colonialism tend to idealise pre-human and human-excluded environments, leading to conflicts between settler-coloniser conservationists and Indigenous communities detrimental to conservation goals. Conservation efforts that align with IRM and acknowledge the co-evolutionary relationships at the foundation of Indigenous culture can lead to more effective conservation efforts. In Hawai‘i, the evolving relationship between Kānaka (Hawaiians) and pua‘a (pigs; Sus scrofa) has been the flash point of conflicts between settler-coloniser conservationists and Hawaiian communities. This paper examines the co-evolving relationships between Hawaiians and pigs in an effort to better balance the conservation efforts aimed at controlling invasive species with the State of Hawai‘i’s obligation to support Indigenous practices and public hunting. We conducted this research by investigating archival Hawaiian language resources, which allowed us to resurrect knowledge lost to time and pinpoint key historical changes over the past 250 years. Our results elucidate this co-evolutionary relationship that shifted from an animal-husbandry relationship to a hunter–prey relationship in the first half of the 19th century. This change in the trajectory of the co-evolutionary relationship was a result of various shifts throughout Hawaiian socio-ecological systems, and therefore necessitates adaptive governance relating to management of and access to pigs. We conclude that Indigenous perspectives offer opportunities to transform conservation biology through multi-objective approaches that address both hunting and conservation goals.

Relational ontology and more-than-human agency in Indigenous Karen conservation practice

Conservation scientists increasingly recognise the value of Indigenous knowledge in conservation practice. However, studies of Indigenous knowledge and resource management systems have often tended to overlook the role and agency of more-than-human beings and ceremonial protocols in mediating human–environment relationships. This paper presents results from community-based research with Karen communities in the Salween Peace Park, an innovative Indigenous-led conservation initiative in the autonomous Karen territory of Kawthoolei, on the border between Thailand and Burma, or Myanmar. Our findings detail ways in which relations with more-than-human beings, including spirits, constitute environmental governance in Karen communities. These findings compel externally situated conservation biologists to take relational ontologies seriously, allowing local interlocutors’ lived experience, knowledge, and theory to challenge culturally bound concepts such as resources, management, and conservation. In order to transform conservation biology through Indigenous perspectives, it is essential to pay attention to the relational world in which many Indigenous Peoples live. Doing so helps support a conservation practice attentive to the interdependence of all life in ways that uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights of self-determination, cultural identity, and social relations with their ancestral lands. We argue that attending to these relations is essential to building community-based conservation collaborations with Indigenous Peoples that are more effective, sustainable, and just.

Adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in promoting sustainable wildlife conservation in communities around Hwange national park, Zimbabwe

Though there are various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA), through the Communal Areas Management of Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) and wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe is facing perennial challenges that range from illegal hunting, wildlife habitat fragmentation, and wildlife retaliatory killings. The main objective of the study is to assess the adoption of effective CSR initiatives on communities around Hwange National Park on wildlife conservation. A case study research design was used where the target population was communities living around Hwange National Park. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used. The data collected from questionnaires was analysed using SPSS and interview data was placed into thematic areas according to objectives. Findings were that there is a legal framework for CSR in place but the challenge is on its implementation. It was noted in the study that the community is not being involved in the conservation of wildlife. The findings also indicated that the economic situation is affecting the daily operation of Hwange National Park; hence, there is reduction of CSR funding which includes the provision of social services. From the study, it was observed that some of the infrastructure like boreholes and roads were no longer being serviced on time due to limited resources. The study recommends that the use of education and awareness campaigns are essential for the conservation of the resources in the protected area.

From “taking” to “tending”: learning about Indigenous land and resource management on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

AbstractIndigenous peoples have occupied the northwestern North American coast for at least 15 000 years—a time when much of the land was covered by a kilometre or more of ice and only patches of land were glacier free. Over the millennia, through difficult times and seasons of plenty, they have built up an immense body of local knowledge, practice, and belief—Indigenous, or Traditional Ecological Knowledge—enabling them to live well, learning about the plants and animals of terrestrial, aquatic, and marine environments on which they have depended, and how to harvest and process them into nutritious foods, healing medicines, and useful materials. Although it has been commonly assumed that these people, as so-called “hunter-gatherers”, were simply helping themselves to nature’s provisions, over decades of learning from Indigenous plant specialists and other knowledge holders as an ethnobotanist, I have come to see First Peoples as resource tenders and managers over countless generations. Their traditional land and resource management systems provide many lessons on how we humans can work with natural processes to ensure the well-being not only of ourselves but also of the species and habitats on which we rely.

Monitoring Simulated Worlds in Indigenous Strategy Games

Though all video games require the player to observe the game state, the strategy genre relies on an experience of managing rule-based simulations that model real-world material systems. Designing for this experience produces a mode of interactive vision that structures gameplay as management: gamic monitoring. This article aims to develop a theory of gamic monitoring and explore its features through settler and Indigenous strategy, simulation, and resource management games. Games scholarship has yet to fully account for recent developments in Indigenous video games or how they relate to mainstream genres. Four comparative examples demonstrate how Indigenous games speak to settler-style gameplay, particularly its dynamics of monitoring and managing populations and resources. Due to their divergent frameworks for action, Indigenous strategy games intervene in mainstream genre conventions by shifting informatic play toward relational procedures of observation and decision-making. They express a paradigm of reciprocal interaction through how they mediate and critique codified game systems. Because Indigenous strategy games reconfigure resources and political engagement according to distinct models of managing the game state, they remain useful for further research in developing alternate models of strategy gameplay.

Some Aspects of Social Organization and Indigenous Resource Management Practices in Awi Zone, Amhara National Regional State (ANRS), Northwest Ethiopia

The people of Awi have succeeded in preserving their age-old traditions that are handed down from generation to generation. Traditional social organizations and labor exchanging forms, aimed at mutual aid and close cooperation either in pleasure or grief are among the many traditions. In Awi farm land and soil fertility management systems employ three major types of strategies in order to manage the organic matter and chemical fertility of the cultivated soils: Mixed cropping rotational cropping and indigenous organic practices. Irrigation is the artificial application of water to soil for the purpose of crop production. The major purpose of this paper is, therefore, to bring out the traditional social organizations and labor exchanging forms that have been practiced in Awi. It also attempts to assess and analyze the indigenous soil fertility management systems as well as the indigenous managements of river waters for irrigation. In the course of the study, I have depended mainly on primary and secondary sources, as well as oral informants, and archival materials. For archives, I have used Debre Markos University Archive Center, Addis Ababa National Archives and Library Agency, Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University and Awi Zone Agriculture Office. Indeed, gathering oral information from knowledgeable individuals through interviews was another important source data for the research. The interview was effectively addressed by qualitative approach through purposive sampling method. In the interview semi structured interview questions were designed for acquiring valuable information about the study. The age and the ability to remember the past events and the level of participation in the local affairs were given emphasis for the selection of informants. The data which I collected from oral sources were crosschecked with archival and secondary sources before interpretation. Thus, the consideration of the land tenure system and the social structure as well as taxation system in Agaw Meder (presently Awi Zone) helps to study and investigate not only the study area but also to comprehend other areas regarding the issue. Keywords : Indigenous Resource Management, Wubiri, Wonfel, Soil-fertility, Irrigation DOI: 10.7176/JCSD/56-04 Publication date: February 29 th 2020

Ecomimicry in Indigenous resource management: optimizing ecosystem services to achieve resource abundance, with examples from Hawaiʻi

Winter, K. B., N. K. Lincoln, F. Berkes, R. A. Alegado, N. Kurashima, K. L. Frank, P. Pascua, Y. M. Rii, F. Reppun, I. S. S. Knapp, W. C. McClatchey, T. Ticktin, C. Smith, E. C. Franklin, K. Oleson, M. R. Price, M. A. McManus, M. J. Donahue, K. S. Rodgers, B. W. Bowen, C. E. Nelson, B. Thomas, J.-A. Leong, E. M. P. Madin, M. A. J. Rivera, K. A. Falinski, L. L. Bremer, J. L. Deenik, S. M. Gon III, B. Neilson, R. Okano, A. Olegario, B. Nyberg, A. H. Kawelo, K. Kotubetey, J. K. Kukea-Shultz, and R. J. Toonen. 2020. Ecomimicry in Indigenous resource management: optimizing ecosystem services to achieve resource abundance, with examples from Hawaiʻi. Ecology and Society 25(2):26. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11539-250226

Historical and contemporary indigenous marine conservation strategies in the North Pacific.

Strategies to reduce, halt, and reverse global declines in marine biodiversity are needed urgently. We reviewed, coded, and synthesized historical and contemporary marine conservation strategies of the Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation in British Columbia, Canada to show how their approaches work. We assessed whether the conservation actions classification system by the Conservation Measures Partnership was able to encompass this nation's conservation approaches. All first‐order conservation actions aligned with the Kitasoo/Xai'xais First Nation's historical and contemporary marine conservation actions; hereditary chief management responsibility played a key role. A conservation ethic permeates Kitasoo/Xai'xais culture, and indigenous resource management and conservation existed historically and remains strong despite extreme efforts by colonizers to suppress all indigenous practices. The Kitasoo/Xai'xais's embodiment of conservation actions as part of their worldview, rather than as requiring actions separate from everyday life (the norm in nonindigenous cultures), was missing from the conservation action classification system. The Kitasoo/Xai'xais are one of many indigenous peoples working to revitalize their governance and management authorities. With the Canadian government's declared willingness to work toward reconciliation, there is an opportunity to enable First Nations to lead on marine and other conservation efforts. Global conservation efforts would also benefit from enhanced support for indigenous conservation approaches, including expanding the conservation actions classification to encompass a new category of conservation or sacredness ethic.

The Role of Indigenous Resurgence in Marine Conservation

Indigenous peoples’ efforts toward environmental conservation are indivisible from their cultural identity and their social and political organizations. Indigenous resurgence, including the reinvigoration and reestablishment of Indigenous ways of living, are linked to the management, restoration, and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems around the world. However, there remains a significant gap in the recognition and support of Indigenous governance systems in international policy discussions regarding conservation work. As a way to address this gap, we offer an analysis of marine Indigenous community-led conservation initiatives from around the world that were recipients of the UNDP Equator Prize, framed by initial research on Indigenous-led conservation in British Columbia, Canada. We highlight specific Indigenous governance strategies undertaken by such communities that foster both marine resource conservation and stewardship. The strategies we identified included practicing Indigenous traditional resource management, protection of traditional territories, Indigenous-led actions of environmental conservation, and data collection and monitoring. We also identified networking and collaboration with non-Indigenous supporters, as was reinvestment into education and capacity-building within the community. We conclude with concrete policy suggestions drawn from these cases that can help strengthen the leadership and self-determination of Indigenous peoples on local resource and environmental issues, and aid in much broader conservation efforts globally.

The Dynamics of Sasi Laut Practices amidst Local Economic and Political Transformations

This study aims to explain the impact of socio-economic transformation, local political dynamics, and external pressures on the practice of sasi laut in Noloth Village. Data obtained using in-depth interview techniques, literature studies, and observations. The analysis and discussion is done descriptively. The results showed that there were three main things that influenced the practice of sasi laut, namely: the integration of valuable fishery products such as lola, sea cucumbers, and lobsters into the market system had changed the institution of sasi laut from the traditional system to the auction mechanism to the capital owners. While the sustainability of valuable coastal resources is threatened under transfer rights to capital owners who have unlimited resource use motives. On the other hand, sasi laut is under local political pressure between the village elite to take economic benefits. In the end, the practice of sasi laut in Noloth Village has experienced a shift in values from cultural contexts to economic reasoning through the integration of fisheries commodities into the market system. The impact of the transformation of sasi laut practices into its own discourse is related to two fundamental questions of indigenous community-based resource management, namely strengthening traditions and conservation of coastal resources.

Adaptation of Traditional Festivals to Natural Resources Conservation Education: Lessons from Osun-Osogbo and Argungun Fishing Festivals in Nigeria

Africa has been tagged a festival continent as year in year out, towns and villages witness cultural festivals throughout the year. These festivals are mostly concerned with resources conservation and utilization. The adoption of Western Model of conserving biodiversity in the trickle-down fashion has failed to yield reasonable result; whereas traditional festivals epitomize indigenous people’s respect and reverence for, and pragmatic understanding of, their natural environment. The quest of conserving biodiversity for sustainable development therefore calls for the integration of traditional festivals in sustainable resource management framework. In spite of the invaluable potentials of traditional festivals in biodiversity conservation as an indigenous resource management system, it has not been given a prominent place in the modern day scientific resource management framework. Using ethnographic research design, the paper exploits the natural resources conservation potentials of Osun-Osogbo and Argungun fishing festivals in Nigeria. Data are collected from archival, ethnographic and internet materials, as well as text books, pictures and information through interviews and observations. The paper presents an analysis of ways through which policy frameworks can benefit from festivals and how a wide audience can be reached with biodiversity conservation messages for the purpose of creating awareness. The paper develops a framework for ecosystem based adaptation, using indigenous festivals for the purpose of replicating it in every other community where such festivals do not exist and integrating it in festivals that are not based on natural resource conservation.