Showing papers on "Traditional knowledge published in 1995"

Dismantling the Divide Between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge

Abstract: In the past few years scholarly discussions have characterized indigenous knowledge as a significant resource for development. This article interrogates the concept of indigenous knowledge and the strategies its advocates present to promote development. The article suggests that both the concept of indigenous knowledge, and its role in development, are problematic issues as currently conceptualized. To productively engage indigenous knowledge in development, we must go beyond the dichotomy of indigenous vs. scientific, and work towards greater autonomy for ‘indigenous’ peoples.

Natural Product Drug Discovery and Development: New Perspectives on International Collaboration

Abstract: Until recently, the prevailing attitude in developed nations regarded the world's genetic resources, which are mainly concentrated in the developing world, as a common resource of humankind, to be exploited freely irrespective of national origin. With the devastation being wreaked in the tropical rainforests and the resurgence in interest in recent years in the discovery of novel drugs from natural sources, particularly plants and marine organisms, the international scientific community has realized that the conservation of these global genetic resources and the indigenous knowledge associated with their use are of primary importance if their potential is to be fully explored. With this realization has come a recognition that these goals must be achieved through collaboration with, and fair and equitable compensation of, the scientists and communities of the genetically rich source countries. The signing of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity by nearly all of the World's nations has emphasized the need for the implementation of such policies. In this review, the articles of the Convention of relevance to the activities and practices of the natural products scientific community are briefly discussed. This discussion is followed by a summary of policies for international collaboration and compensation being implemented by several developed country organizations, and the perspectives on the current developments given by representatives of some of the source countries located in the regions of greatest biodiversity.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Biodiversity, Resilience and Sustainability

Abstract: Much of the world’s biodiversity has been in the hands of traditional peoples, societies of hunters and gatherers, herders, fishers, agriculturists, for great many generations. Most living resources of the earth have been utilised for a historically long time; exceptions are few (e.g., open-ocean and deep-sea species). As Gomez-Pompa and Kaus [1990] observed, even tropical forests of the ‘Amazon were not untouched environments but the result of the last cycle of abandonment’ by traditional users. The fact is that pre-scientific, traditional systems of management have been the main means by which societies have managed natural resources over millennia [Berkes and Farvar, 1989; Gadgil et al., 1993]. Biological diversity has persisted despite, and in some cases because of, these systems of management so that we have any biodiversity today to speak about.

Indigenous communication and indigenous knowledge.

Abstract: MOST DEFINITIONS OF indigenous knowledge refer to the accumulation of experience and the passing down of information from one generation to the next within a society (Wang 1982, CIKARD 1988) Yet, despite frequent expressions of concern for enculturation, little attention has been given to how knowledge is accumulated and shared within local societies Communication is one of several processes essential for the continuity and spread of knowledge and the culture in which it is embedded Every society seemingly has evolved elaborate ways for transmitting information from person to person Such indigenous communication includes the transmission of not only technical information, but also all other messages: entertainment, news, persuasion, announcements and social exchanges of every type within the expansive sweep defined by Doob (1960) This chapter deals primarily with the communication of technical information, though it will be necessary to mention other types of content also We choose to concentrate on technical communication because this has been relatively ignored in the literature The neglect by outsiders of the interface between indigenous knowledge and indigenous communication is despite its central place in the perpetuation of culture This chapter describes indigenous communication and proposes a heuristic framework for studying this interface In the following discussion we must keep in mind the distinction between knowledge and information Knowledge is the process of knowing, of individual cognition (Freire 1971, 1973) It resides in people It cannot be communicated but is created in the minds of individuals as a result of each person's perceptions of the environment or through communication with others An information sender must first encode knowledge into a form of information and transmit this The receiver then decodes and analyses the information, forming connotations with schemata and memorised experiences and relating it to knowledge he or she already has The receiver's verbal or other reactions form feedback, which in turn may create new knowledge in the mind of the sender The communication process thereby enables both partners to create new knowledge in their minds Communication may occur without any conscious or deliberate attempt by an information sender Observers may infer much from others' actions, dress and body language Much childhood learning consists of imitation Animals, plants, and inanimate objects such as stars and clouds convey much information to those able to interpret it The receiver must similarly decode the incoming information and match it with existing knowledge This encoding, decoding and matching process produces 'noise' in the communication channel and results in no two people having exactly the same knowledge about anything It also means that rural people and scientists see the same item of 'indigenous knowledge' in completely different ways For this reason, in this chapter we are careful not to talk of the 'communication of indigenous

Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Wisdom for Sustainable Development. Edited by Nancy M. Williams and Graham Baines, 1993. Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University

Abstract: Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Wisdom for Sustainable Development. Edited by Nancy M. Williams and Graham Baines, 1993. Canberra: Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University. Reviewed by John Cordell, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Griffith University, Queensland 4111, Australia.

Ancient Maya terracing and modern conservation in the Peten rain forest of Guatemala

Abstract: To live sustainably from agriculture for generations in steep, tropical lands requires a complex understanding of both soil and soil conservation. A steady and increasing amount of ethnopedological research has shown the complexity of indigenous soil and soil conservation in many parts of the world (Bocco; Carter; Dunning 1992; Hecht; Williams and Oritz-Solomo; and Zimmerer). Dunning (1992), for example, showed that the indigenous Yucatec Maya of the Puuc area of the Yucatan have a four-level soil taxonomy, at least nine distinct soil types, and a sophisticated knowledge of appropriate land use. Bocco showed nearly as complex a knowledge of soil conservation among peasant farmers in central Mexico. At the same time, much research has supported the idea that “grass roots” development and conservation projects that include local people and their indigenous knowledge have higher chances of long-term success (Bocco; Hudson; Pawluk; Posey). Another source of soil knowledge applicable to “conser-vation-with-development” projects (Stocking and Perkin) is archaeological information from ancient cultures that experienced similarly intense land pressures to those of today. A fitting ancient analog to modern land pressure was the ancient Maya in the Lowlands of Central America …

Incorporation of indigenous knowledge and perspectives in agroforestry development

Abstract: Calls for the effective integration of indigenous knowledge and perspective into agroforestry are increasingly familiar in agroforestry programmes. This is the result of a need to better target research, ethical concerns about participation and power and the recognition that indigenous knowledge is a potentially powerful source of understanding that may often be complementary to scientific knowledge.

Incorporation of indigenous knowledge and perspectives in agroforestry development: Part 2: Case-study on the impact of explicit representation of farmers' knowledge

Abstract: An explicit representation of farmers' knowledge about on-farm tree fodder resources was developed using knowledge-based systems software and methodology at a front-line agricultural research centre in the eastern mid-hills of Nepal. Sophisticated knowledge of tree-crop interactions and the feeding value of various tree fodders was revealed. Farmers' ecological knowledge was more developed in some areas than others and was largely complementary to that of agricultural researchers in Nepal and the scientific literature more generally. Evaluation of the combined knowledge of farmers and researchers related to interdisciplinary land use problems by the creation of explicit, encyclopaedic knowledge bases, offers the possibility of targeting research more precisely to gaps in knowledge constraining the productivity and sustainability of the farming system. While similar insight into the depth of farmers knowledge may have been gained by researchers adopting a less formal approach to knowledge acquisition, without an explicit, durable and manipulable record, subsequent analyses and continued use of the knowledge in the research and development process might not be achieved.

Incorporation of indigenous knowledge and perspectives in agroforestry development: Part 1: Review of methods and their application

Abstract: Calls for the effective integration of indigenous knowledge and perspective into agroforestry are increasingly familiar in agroforestry programmes. This is the result of a need to better target research, ethical concerns about participation and power and the recognition that indigenous knowledge is a potentially powerful source of understanding that may often be complementary to scientific knowledge. Incorporating indigenous knowledge into development may be achieved through farmer participation in research planning and implementation, external survey of local needs as a basis for planning research or the active synthesis of indigenous and scientific knowledge (in addition to collaboration between the scientist and the farmer) in order to capitalise on their potential complementarity. It is argued that active synthesis has received inadequate attention. In part this is because it demands rigorous analysis of indigenous and scientific knowledge. This is an exacting process and requires effective means of explicitly representing the knowledge concerned. An approach to this task is briefly introduced. A case study description and evaluation can be found in the accompanying paper [Thapa et al., 1995 (this issue)].

'Water Used to be Scattered in the Landscape': Local Understandings of Soil Erosion and Land Use Planning in Southern Zimbabwe

Abstract: This article presents some local understandings of ecological history in a semi arid area of Zimbabwe as an exploration of how changes in land use that reflect both local initiative and state planning have transformed the hydrology of local catchments of heavy clay 'mopani soils' and greatly accelerated soil erosion. Local explanations provide a wide-ranging and challenging analysis of the dynamics of watersheds situated within a complex social and historical context. In conjunction with the spread of ox-ploughing and population growth and redistribution, a range of ill-conceived and authoritarian 'conservation' and 'development' interventions by the colonial state are argued by local intellectu als to be the major causes of accelerated soil erosion. Particular attention is given to how government imposed the deforestation and intensive use of difficult top land soils, and then transformed that uneven heterogeneous landscape into a smooth bare land connected by contour ridges and paths so that water concen trates, erodes, and then leaves the desiccating land to silt the rivers. The existence of sophisticated 'indigenous knowledge' systems in Africa has now been widely accepted, but this case study suggests that their very depth, variability and complexity means that attempts to harness local ecological knowledge for the understanding of or development action about environmental change may be more problematic than is often assumed. Researchers, government and conser vation and development organisations need to do much more than seek to 'tap' such knowledge. Real understandings and 'sustainable development' can only flow from new power relationships with rural people and their knowledge.

Indigenous knowledge, emancipation and Alienation

Abstract: Recently indigenous knowledge has received increasing academic (see, e.g., Warren et al., 1993; Brokensha et al., 1980; Gomez-Pompa and Kaus, 1992) and institutional (see World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987;Agenda 21, 1992) attention. The study, application, and recording of indigenous knowledge, viewed as indigenous technologies for living with natural environments, has become a field of great interest and promise to nonindigenous and indigenous people; the ways in which the present interest is expressed, however, could also become a source of disappointment for the latter. I begin by considering the meaning of the expression “indigenous knowledge.” Next, I examine whether indigenous knowledge is fundamentally different from scientific knowledge. Finally I discuss the potential for emancipation, but also for alienation, resulting from the current ways of focussing on indigenous knowledge.

The economic impact of intellectual property rights: An overview and guide

Abstract: This paper, adapted from a conference presentation in Venice, links the history of intellectual property protection to two important trends in this field: (1) the ‘shifting baseline’, from a presumption of no property rights and open competition, to the presumption that all intellectual effort deserves the award of a property right; and (2) growing awareness of the ‘political economy’ of these rights, which legislators can create and strengthen with little direct effect on government budgets. The paper also considers a shift in the scholarly emphasis, from the ‘brand question’ of the overall worth of intellectual property to defailed consideration of individual doctrines and rules.

Local resource management in Africa.

Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Concept and Experiences of Local Resource Management in National Contexts SECTION I: GENERAL ISSUES: Collaboration with Indigenous Farmers Associations in Agricultural Development and Resource Management Accountability in Integrated Village Land Management Drawing the Boundary: An Explorative Model of the Defence of the Commons The Forest Agent at the Interface between Local Resource Management and National Policies SECTION II: CASE STUDIES: Local Environmental Management in Benin Insight, Self-Interest and Participation: The Keys to Improved Local Environmental Management, An Example for Senegambia Working with Nature: Local Fishery Management on the Logone Floodplain in Chad and Cameroon With a Little Help from our Friends: The Gouzda Case of Local Resource Management in Cameroon Wildlife Resources and Local Development: Some Experiences with Zimbabwe's Campfire Programme An Example of Local Level Soil Fertility Management in Northern Cameroon Local Management of Moving Resources: The Case of the Dogon Village Herd Pastoralists, Chiefs and Bureaucrats: A Grazing Scheme in Dryland Central Mali.

Redemptive communities: Indigenous knowledge, colonist farming systems, and conservation of tropical forests

Abstract: This essay critically examines the emerging view among some ethnologists that replicable models of sustainable management of tropical forests may be found within the knowledge systems of contemporary indigenous peoples. As idealized epistemological types, several characteristics distinguishing “indigenous” from “modern” knowledge systems are described. Two culturally distinctive land use systems in Latin America are compared, one developed by an indigenous group, the Huastec Maya, and the other characteristic of colonist farms in Rondonia, Brazil. While each of these systems reflects a different cultural-historical tradition, I argue that the process of knowledge formation and cultural adaptation is coevolutionary and continuous in both cases. The very concept of “indigenous” as a discrete analytic category is questioned; indigenicity alone cannot explain local adaptation of farming systems. Rather than dichotomize indigenous and colonist knowledge as inherently different categories, differences in land use patterns between such social groups may be more accurately viewed as reflecting different points on a single epistemological continuum.

Social aspects of sustainable dryland management

Abstract: SOCIAL DIMENSIONS AND CONCEPTS OF DESERTIFICATION An Overview of Desertification as Dryland Degradation PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES AND METHODS Supporting Local Natural Resource Management Institutions Departure Points - Participatory Transfer of Technology SOCIAL ASPECTS OF DRYLAND MANAGEMENT Natural Resource Management in Pastoral Africa INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE Using Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Dryland Management GENDER ISSUES IN NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Rural Middle Eastern Women and Changing Paradigms GOVERNMENT POLICIES Government Policies to Promote Good Dryland Management

Farmers' Knowledge and Sustainable Agroecosystem Management: An Operational Definition and an Example from Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract: Indigenous knowledge of small farmers in the tropics may provide important contributions to the development of sustainable agricultural systems. This article examines this idea, particularly under conditions of socioeconomic and technological change. It develops an operational definition of sustainable agroecosystem management and links it to farmers' indigenous knowledge. It analyzes the management of soils and germplasm by a group of small maize farmers in Chiapas, Mexico. It shows that sustainable and nonsustainable managements can coexist in the same agroecosystem, and points out that an important part of the value of farmers' indigenous knowledge is to identify the incentives that lead to either management style.

Claiming and using indigenous knowledge

Abstract: This document is the third chapter in a book complied by the UN Gender Working Group (GWG) that explores the overlay of science and technology (ST 2) gender and intellectual property rights especially in regard to biotechnological developments based on local knowledge; and 3) the work of governments universities nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and local groups in the areas of ST support for womens rights; and work in the areas of indigenous people biodiversity and intellectual property rights. The chapter ends by identifying areas of critical concern and research needs.