Conventional approaches to managing protected areas have often seen people and nature as separate entities. They preclude human communities from using natural resources and assume that their concerns are incompatible with conservation. Protected area approaches and models that see conservation as compatible with human communities are explored. The main themes are co-managed protected areas and community conserved areas. Practical guidance is offered, drawing on recent experience, reflections and advice developed at the local, national, regional and international level.

Indigenous and local communities and protected areas : towards equity and enhanced conservation (Arabic version)

At first blush, it seems a very long reach from the aboriginal hunting camps of the Kluane in Canada’s Yukon wilderness to the poststructuralist environs of modern French philosophy. Yet a careful reading of Paul Nadasdy’s prodigious new work of contemporary ethnography reveals that geographically, culturally, and philosophically the distance involved is much less than might be expected. On the basis of three years of intimate fieldwork in the Kluane aboriginal nation’s main settlement of Burwash Landing, Nadasdy shows that the much-lauded land claims and treaty processes in Canada are, in fact, double-edged swords. The modes of thought, discourse, and organization required by these processes frequently do more to accomplish the erosion of cultural sovereignty than they do to protect or enhance it. Nadasdy starts by questioning the widely held assumption that the state is the monolithic structure its critics (and sometimes its proponents) imagine it to be. This allows him to discuss the complexities of state–nation interactions in the southwest Yukon in interesting ways. He can acknowledge, for example, the genuine concern many bureaucrats have for the well-being of wildlife and for the cultural and political integrity of the Kluane nation while simultaneously calling attention to the dangers for native people inherent to the land claims and treaty negotiations processes. This tactic is not, however, without its perils, as we shall see. Nadasdy stands in a scholarly tradition in ethnography that is best represented, perhaps, by Hugh Brody’s landmark Maps and Dreams or Bruce Chatwin’s slightly earlier. The Songlines, both of which are products of intensive participation in aboriginal communities; the former in Canada, the latter

Hunters and Bureaucrats: Power, Knowledge, and Aboriginal–State Relations in the Southwest Yukon

The knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities play critical roles in safeguarding the biological and cultural diversity of our planet. Globalization, government policies, capitalism, colonialism, and other rapid social-ecological changes threaten the relationships between Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their environments, thereby challenging the continuity and dynamism of Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). In this article, we contribute to the “World Scientists' Warning to Humanity,” issued by the Alliance of World Scientists, by exploring opportunities for sustaining ILK systems on behalf of the future stewardship of our planet. Our warning raises the alarm about the pervasive and ubiquitous erosion of knowledge and practice and the social and ecological consequences of this erosion. While ILK systems can be adaptable and resilient, the foundations of these knowledge systems are compromised by ongoing suppression, misrepresentation, appropriation, assimilation, disconnection, and destruction of biocultural heritage. Three case studies illustrate these processes and how protecting ILK is central to biocultural conservation. We conclude with 15 recommendations that call for the recognition and support of Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their knowledge systems. Enacting these recommendations will entail a transformative and sustained shift in how ILK systems, their knowledge holders, and their multiple expressions in lands and waters are recognized, affirmed, and valued. We appeal for urgent action to support the efforts of Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world to maintain their knowledge systems, languages, stewardship rights, ties to lands and waters, and the biocultural integrity of their territories—on which we all depend.

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Scientists' Warning to Humanity on Threats to Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems

Transformative governance of biodiversity: insights for sustainable development

There have been calls for greater inclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) in applied ecosystems research and ecological assessments. The Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment (GA) is the first global scale assessment to systematically engage with ILK and issues of concern to Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC). In this paper, we review and reflect on how the GA worked with ILK and lessons learned. The GA engaged in critical evaluation and synthesis of existing evidence from multiple sources, using several deliberative steps: having specific authors and questions focus on ILK; integrating inputs from ILK across all chapters; organizing dialogue workshops; issuing calls for contributions to identify other forms and systems of knowledge; and encouraging IPLC to be key stakeholders and contributors. We identify content areas where attention to ILK was particularly important for questions in applied ecology. These include: (a) enriching understandings of nature and its contributions to people, including ecosystem services; (b) assisting in assessing and monitoring ecosystem change; (c) contributing to international targets and scenario development to achieve global goals like the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the Sustainable Development Goals and (d) generating inclusive and policy‐relevant options for people and nature. However, challenges in engaging different knowledge systems were also encountered. Policy implications. The Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment (GA) demonstrated the importance of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) to global biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. Initiatives seeking to engage Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) can learn from the experience of the GA. Successfully bringing ILK into assessment processes and policy arenas requires a deliberate framework and approach from the start that facilitates recognition of different knowledge systems, identifies questions relevant at various scales, mobilizes funding and recognizes time required and engages networks of stakeholders with diverse worldviews. In turn, fostering inclusion of ILK and partnering with IPLC can help future assessments understand how natural and cultural systems co‐produce each other, identify trends of change through diverse biocultural indicators and improve sustainable development goals and policies.

Wilfred V. Alangui

Papers

Working with indigenous, local and scientific knowledge in assessments of nature and nature's linkages with people