The Use of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Forest Management: an Example from India

Abstract

Many forest communities possess considerable knowledge of the natural resources they use. Such knowledge can potentially inform scientific approaches to management, either as a source of baseline data to fill information gaps that cannot otherwise be addressed or to provide alternative management approaches from which scientists and managers might learn. In general, however, little attention has been given to the relevance of quantitative forms of such knowledge for resource management. Much discussion has focused on the integration of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into management, but less attention has been paid to identifying specific areas where it is most useful and where it may be most problematic. We contrasted scientific data with information from TEK in the context of a threat to the sustainable harvesting of a nontimber forest product (NTFP) of livelihood importance in southern India, specifically, a fruit tree infected by mistletoe. The efficiency of deriving information from NTFP harvesters compared to scientific field studies was assessed. We further evaluated the potential of TEK to provide novel solutions to the management problem in question, the degree to which TEK could provide quantitative information, and the biases that might be associated with information derived from TEK. TEK complemented previously gathered ecological data by providing concordant and additional information, but also contradicted some results obtained using a scientific approach. TEK also gave a longer-term perspective with regard to NTFP harvesting patterns. Combining information on historical and current harvesting trends for the NTFP with official data suggests that current assessments of sustainability may be inaccurate and that the use of diverse information sources may provide an effective approach to assessing the status of harvested resources.

Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge to Improve Holistic Fisheries Management: Transdisciplinary Modeling of a Lagoon Ecosystem of Southern Mexico

“…TEK has been suggested as a holistic management tool (Berkes et al 2000), but practical approaches have rarely been implemented because of a general underestimation of the relevance of this kind of information. As a consequence, less attention has been paid to the importance of identifying specific areas where some management strategies might be useful and areas where they could be problematic (Rist et al 2010). Thus, as Davis and Ruddle (2010) argue, it is necessary to exercise rational skepticism throughout the research on empirical ecological knowledge.…”

The Ethnobotany Knowledge of Manggarai Tribe and the Implication Utilization of Forest Plants in The Mountains of Ruteng

“…Masyarakat lokal sekitar hutan berinteraksi dengan hutan sejak ratusan tahun memiliki pengetahuan mengenai bagaimana menggunakan tumbuhan hutan secara berkelanjutan (Pei et al 2009;Pei 2013). Masyarakat lokal dan pengetahuan mereka tentang hutan merupakan hal yang penting dalam praktik konservasi kawasan lindung (Anderson & Putz 2002;Junior & Sato 2005;Rist et al 2010). Pengelolaan sebuah kawasan konservasi harus menekankan pada aspek budaya yang berhubungan dengan keanekaragaman hayati (Muhumuza & Balkwill 2013).…”

Opportunities to utilize traditional phenological knowledge to support adaptive management of social-ecological systems vulnerable to changes in climate and fire regimes

“…There is no consensus regarding use of the term "indigenous" versus "traditional" when describing the place-based knowledge systems of peoples intimately connected to their surrounding environment (Sefa Dei et al 2000, Houde 2007, Berkes 2008, Rist et al 2010, Pierotti 2011. As is most common in the literature, we use the term "indigenous knowledge" when referencing the broad range of knowledge held by indigenous people, whereas we use "traditional ecological knowledge" (TEK) and "traditional phenological knowledge" (TPK) when referencing ecological and phenological subsets of IK.…”