Cultural And Spiritual Values Of Biodiversity

https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/111347/1/828390401.pdf

Economic and ecological trade-offs of agricultural specialization at different spatial scales

1. Current sustainability challenges demand approaches that acknowledge a plurality of human–nature interactions and worldviews, for which biocultural approaches are considered appropriate and tim ...

Biocultural approaches to sustainability : a systematic review of the scientific literature

Biocultural diversity has been conceptualised as the sum of the world’s differences regarding biological diversity at all levels and cultural diversity in all its manifestations, and their interactions. The concept is often framed in the context of conservation as a retention versus loss model by emphasizing the religious and spiritual values of the natural environment and the positive interactions between traditional indigenous people and conservation of natural ecosystems and indigenous species. On the basis of our research amongst the ‘non-traditional’ amaXhosa in South Africa, we argue that this interpretation is too narrow and that the concept needs to be reappraised in order to capture the dynamic, complex and relational nature of bio-cultural diversity relations. We conclude that the concept involves a complex of human values and practices related to the three main dimensions of biodiversity at landscapes, species and genetic levels. It is not only related to the conservation of wild species in culturally venerated natural ecosystems, but also to human creativity in creating hybrid nature-culture systems, including the incorporation of biodiversity in the human domain through the creation of human-modified landscape elements and agro-biodiversity. The biocultural values and practices are subject to various dynamics in relation to socioeconomic change. Some lose their importance as a result of modernization, but others endure even in urban conditions.

Reappraising the Concept of Biocultural Diversity: a Perspective from South Africa

Foresters and other natural resource managers have become much more aware of the importance of nontimber forest products (NTFPs) as the basis for local livelihoods, production, trading activities, and, in some contexts, the maintenance of forest biodiversity. Important recent texts address product commercialization or the contribution of NTFPs to livelihood resilience, and others describe what is collected by different forest people and forest users and how this harvest can be managed. However, a detailed examination of the governance aspects of NTFPs— that is, the systems of social rules and decision-making that shape what people do when it comes to managing, harvesting, using, and trading NTFPs—has remained a significant gap in the literature. This book sets out to address this gap by describing how policies, regulations, and resulting social action can support or hinder the sustainable use and trade of the range of products that fall under the banner of NTFPs. The introductory chapter sets out the objectives and scope of the book and presents an overview of the current literature. A total of 14 chapters follow, with 4 accompanying case studies that add more detail to the material covered. The chapters present data from very different climatic regions of the world—from tropical moist forests to the boreal forest of the Northern Hemisphere— in a mix of developed and developing nations, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Scotland, Canada, the United States, India, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, China, Fiji, South Africa, and Finland. Chapters covering Scotland, British Columbia, the Olympic Peninsula of the US Pacific Northwest, the Philippines, and Yunnan have the most to offer readers with an interest in mountain research and development because they discuss the social and ecological context in highland regions. However, because the book is general in outlook, specific governance challenges facing mountain regions are not explored in any depth. Some of the chapters investigate products and local contexts that are likely to be familiar to readers with an established interest in NTFPs, such as the case of eru (Gnetum africanum and G. buchholzianum) or bush mango (Irvingia spp) in Cameroon and Nigeria, or tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon) and sal (Shorea robusta) leaves from the tribal forests of India. Other chapters discuss rapidly developing governance situations linked to products that might be familiar and well-researched in some aspects but offer the reader new insights, such as the globalization of traditional wild berry collection in Finland or the development of the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) sector in Bolivia. Coherence and flow between chapters presenting such varied material is maintained by a common structure composed of the historical and contemporary governance context; the ecological, social, and legal conditions linked to specific products; a conclusion; and a set of forward-looking recommendations. The editors use the last 2 chapters to draw together key lessons from this eclectic mix of cases and produce a useful synthesis of emerging trends and patterns. Their analysis reveals a remarkable similarity in the characteristics of NTFP governance throughout the world. Most countries lack a coherent policy framework for NTFPs, with opportunistic and reactive laws put into place as NTFPs become valuable or threatened. Much governance is not linked to the ecological, cultural, and economic realities of forests and societies. In nearly all countries, NTFP governance sits between policy and regulatory systems designed for different land uses, and it is usually unclear which organizations and institutions actually hold responsibility for aspects of governance along the product supply chain. In some mountain areas, for example in the Philippines and the Ghats of India, the legal protection of ecosystem services and watershed functions of forests can conflict with governance systems aiming to protect indigenous use of forest resources, such as NTFPs, and can undermine ancestral claims to land and territory. Many of the benefits of and barriers to effective governance have particular resonance in mountain areas. Transportation is often used as the main mechanism for monitoring and enforcing regulatory systems, but in remote and upland areas this becomes more problematic, as shown by the situations described in the chapters about Yunnan and British Columbia. The expansion of the forest frontier often brings new immigrant populations into direct conflict with mountain populations as pressures on lowland areas increase, and traditional NTFP harvesting, trading, and governance systems can be disrupted as a consequence. Although local and indigenous people may have rights to manage and trade NTFPs, as in British Columbia, they do not usually have the right to restrict or regulate use, and may, as in India, be subject to state control and price setting for the most valuable products. Although the book presents evidence suggesting that indigenous claims to land and forest resources can strengthen governance systems, many more examples show continued ineffectiveness of governance and policy because harvesters and producers are not included in policy formulation or have little knowledge of formal systems of regulation as they develop. MountainMedia Mountain Research and Development (MRD) An international, peer-reviewed open access journal published by the International Mountain Society (IMS) www.mrd-journal.org

https://bioone.org/journals/mountain-research-and-development/volume-31/issue-2/mrd.mm083/Wild-Product-Governance--Finding-Policies-That-Work-for-Non/10.1659/mrd.mm083.pdf

Wild Product Governance: Finding Policies That Work for Non-timber Forest Products

SUMMARY In order to further understanding of the links between biological and cultural diversity, this study examined the role of forest species and biodiversity in the livelihoods of indigenous Bakweri villagers and migrants to the Mount Cameroon region. Surveys of resources consumed and sold by 118 households were undertaken in five villages over the course of one year. The contributions of different habitats and management systems (compounds, farms, fallow, forest) and species (native and introduced; cultivated and wild-harvested) to local livelihoods were evaluated. The study showed that indigenous households depend to a much greater extent upon a range of habitats and species than migrant households, particularly for subsistence. Indigenous resource management systems grow from historical relationships between people and place, and promote resilience, well-being and adaptation in an area long characterized by environmental, social, political, and economic uncertainty. The managed landscapes of indigenous villages can contribute to broader conservation efforts in the region, including those associated with the newly established Mount Cameroon National Park.

/pdf/the-interweave-of-people-and-place-biocultural-diversity-in-xjyk2a0tgh.pdf

R.J. Lysinge

Papers

The interweave of people and place: biocultural diversity in migrant and indigenous livelihoods around Mount Cameroon