Indigenous and Local Environmental Knowledge

Since Local Environmental Knowledge (LEK) stems from numerous sources and is learned and transmitted variously, it is highly heterogeneous. One of the reasons for its heterogeneity is a fact that transmission routes and patterns depend mainly on different sources, such as personal experience, influence of others as well as books and media. The objective of this article is to show how useful the idea of mental herbal might be in deep, complex and contextualized description of heterogeneous structure of LEK on the example of Polish minority members in a village Pojana Miculi (Rom. Poiana Micului) – South Bukovina, Romania. The whole body of skills, practice and knowledge of plants held by a particular person is defined here as the mental herbal. Mental herbal approach implies focusing on the particular holders of LEK – their stories, perceptions, everyday practices, considering the environment, and the context, in which LEK functions.

Energy projects may profoundly impact Indigenous peoples. We consider effects of Canada’s proposed Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion on the health and food sovereignty of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) through contamination and impeded access to uncontaminated traditional foods. Federal monitoring and TWN documentation show elevated shellfish biotoxin levels in TWN’s traditional territory near the terminus where crude oil is piped. Although TWN restoration work has re-opened some shellfish-harvesting sites, pipeline expansion stands to increase health risk directly through rising bioaccumulating chemical toxins as well as through increased hazardous biotoxins. Climate change from increased fossil fuel use, expected via pipeline expansion, also threatens to increase algae blooms through higher temperature and nutrient loading. As the environmental impact assessment process failed to effectively consider these local health concerns in addition to larger impacts of climate change,...

Aboriginal Australians have been observing the stars for more than 65,000 years, and many of their oral traditions have been recorded since colonisation. These traditions tell of all kinds of celestial events, such as the annual rising of stars, passing comets, eclipses of the Sun and Moon, auroral displays, and even meteorite impacts. But new research, recently published in The Australian Journal of Anthropology, reveals that Aboriginal oral traditions describe the variable nature of three red-giant stars: Betelgeuse, Aldebaran and Antares. This challenges the history of astronomy and tells us that Aboriginal Australians were even more careful observers of the night sky than they have been given credit for.

Abstract in Englisch:
This diploma thesis is a critique of the concept of “contact”. The central starting point for this critical analysis is the identification of “Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation” as “uncontacted”, or “Uncontacted Tribes”. This critique is centred on the meaning of “contact” in and for Eurocentric colonial and imperial contexts. Here, “contact” is identified as the mission, message and proclamation of Eurocentric power, which transmits, translates, differentiates and claims perception, identification and space. Taking this perspective, “contact” is identified as a central concept for Eurocentric ("post"-) colonial and imperial structure and oppression, as well as pursuit and projection of the frontier, the “self” and the “other”. The pursuit of “contact” is marked by the increased importance of messengers and travellers, along with their messages and travel stories, for example about the priest king Prester John, which makes them identifiable as precursors of conquistadors and “discoverers”.
A central point for deconstructing “contact” as Eurocentric differentiation and power proclamation is the problématique of the uncertainty of perception. With this uncertain perception, challenges for the Eurocentric “self” are identifiable. These challenges are discussed through the “uncanny” in the Freudian sense, as well as through the paternalistic identification of “women”, which opens the concluding analysis of “isolation”. The final argument of the thesis seeks to understand the term “isolation”, as in the case of “Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation”, as questioning the territoriality of states, because it undercuts the hidden claims of “contact”-”ability”, the Eurocentric message, mission, proclamation and claim of “contact”, and thus the legitimisation of its “self”-perception, colonial structures and access to space and life. The thesis closes by advocating a perspective which makes ways of encounter and messaging discussable elements which can significantly translate, occupy and enforce perceptions and structures, as with the claim of “isolation” and “contact”.

Keywords in Englisch:
ability, perception, encounter, mission/message, frontier, isolation, Indigenous Peoples, unknown, contact, eurocentrism

Abstract in Deutsch:
Die vorliegende Diplomarbeit setzt sich kritisch mit dem Konzept „Kontakt“ auseinander. Die kritische Analyse der Identifikation von „Indigenen Völkern in freiwilliger Isolation“ als „unkontaktiert“, bzw. „Unkontaktierte Stämme“ ist hierfür zentraler Ausgangspunkt. Die Kritik wird anhand der Bedeutung von „Kontakt“ in und für eurozentrisch kolonial-imperiale Kontexte ausgeführt. Hierbei wird „Kontakt“ als Botschaft und Proklamation eurozentrischer Macht verortet, welche Wahrnehmung, Identifikationen und Räume vermittelt, übersetzt, differenziert und beansprucht. Aufbauend auf dieser Perspektive, wird „Kontakt“ als zentrales Konzept für eurozentrisch („post“-) kolonial-imperiale Strukturen und Unterdrückung, sowie Streben und Projektion des Grenzraums, des „Selbst“ und des „Anderen“ identifiziert. Entscheidend für dieses „Kontakt“-Streben ist die gestiegene Bedeutung von Botschafter*innen und Reisenden, bzw. ihrer*seiner Botschaften und Reisegeschichten über z.B. den Priesterkönig Johannes, wodurch sie als Vorgänger zu Konquistadoren und „Entdecker*innen“ identifiziert werden.
Zentraler Ansatzpunkt für die Dekonstruktion von „Kontakt“ als eurozentrische Differenzierung und Macht-Proklamation, ist die Problematik der unscharfen Wahrnehmung. Anhand dieser unscharfen Wahrnehmung werden Herausforderungen für das eurozentrische „Selbst“ identifiziert. Diese Herausforderungen werden als „unheimlich“ im Sinn von Freud und anhand der paternalistischen Identifizierung der „Frau“ thematisiert und eröffnet dadurch die abschließende Analyse von „Isolation“. Das Schlussargument der Arbeit ist, das „Isolation“, wie im Fall „Indigener Völker in freiwilliger Isolation“, Territorialstaatlichkeit in Frage stellt, da es den dahinter liegenden Anspruch auf „Kontakt“-Fähigkeit, bzw. die eurozentrische Botschaft, Proklamation und Beanspruchung von „Kontakt“, und somit der Legitimation von dessen „Selbst“-Wahrnehmung, kolonialer Strukturen und Zugang zu Räumen und Leben zuvorkommt. Die Diplomarbeit schließt mit dem Anspruch auf eine Perspektive welche Begegnungsweisen und Botschaften als Elemente diskutierbar macht, welche Wahrnehmung und Strukturen gesellschaftlich bedeutend übersetzen, besetzen und durchsetzen, wie durch den Anspruch von „Isolation“ und „Kontakt“.

Schlagwörter in Deutsch:
Fähigkeit, Wahrnehmung, Begegnung, Botschaft, Frontier, Isolation, Indigene Völker, das Unbekannte, Kontakt, Eurozentrismus

A seção 8 "Conhecimentos associados à biodiversidade" compõe a obra “Povos tradicionais e biodiversidade no Brasil – Contribuições dos povos indígenas, quilombolas e comunidades tradicionais para a biodiversidade, políticas e ameaças” (Carneiro da Cunha, Adams & Magalhães 2021), foi organizada por Morim de Lima, Cabral de Oliveira e Shiratori com a participação de diversos pesquisadores não-indígenas e indígenas.
O presente volume põe em destaque os conhecimentos e práticas de populações tradicionais associados à biodiversidade, os quais são inseparáveis de seus modos de vida e visões de mundo. Composto por sete capítulos, o volume versa sobre as teorias e concepções locais (Morim de Lima; Cabral de Oliveira, Shiratori), as línguas (Franchetto), os calendários sazonais (Cabalzar & Lins), a cultura material (Van Velthem), as terapêuticas (Elisabetsky et. al) e a alimentação (Katz), tendo por foco a compreensão das relações entre a diversidade biológica, linguística e sociocultural. Apresentamos aqui um longo panorama que demonstra como os saberes locais, ancorados na observação minuciosa de espécies, paisagens, fenômenos e processos ecológicos, incidem diretamente no mundo e têm efeitos na composição, incremento e manutenção da diversidade da vida, merecendo serem levados à sério e amplamente respeitados.

As the climate warms, stressors are developing that challenge the adaptive capabilities of Arctic peoples. In Nunavut, one of Canada’s Arctic territories, increased weather variability and changes in physical and climatic conditions are having profound
effects on residents. One problem is that while these changes have magnified risks associated with travel and land-based activities, individuals lack sufficiently reliable and useful
information on which to base decisions. In this paper, we argue that weather-related risk assessment can be improved by integrating local and scientific weather knowledge and
making this information accessible to residents through the creation of weather hazards impact advisory groups. We present a qualitative case study of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, using data from participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with indigenous and non-indigenous long-term residents in summer 2009. We examine how long-term residents of Iqaluit acquire, perceive, and use both local and scientific weather knowledge. We find that various barriers, such as a lack of land-based experience, cultural and linguistic differences, and an absence of social networks, prevent most people from
obtaining all the information required to make fully informed decisions about the risks associated with land-based activities at different locations. Experienced hunters are perceived
to be a reliable source of weather-related information, while scientific weather knowledge is not as accessible or informative as it could be. Increasing the potential use of traditional and scientific hazardous weather knowledge, by making both more universally accessible, can enhance strategies for adapting to climate change in the Arctic.

Land reform of forestry sector is one of the important ways to resolve the forestry conflicts. However, the national and local forestry policies have not been able to support effectively and successfully land reform. This article explained the facts of the land reform in forestry sector and provided recommendations to make a successfully land reform. The method is case study by elaborating a concept of symbolic politics through regulations and related documents review. The discussion was focused on national and local level by taking case about the implementation of community based forest management (CBFM) in West Sumatra. The result revealed that the progress of land reform through social forestry program at national level was not satisfied, even though at local level, the increasing of CBFM movement in West Sumatra can be one of good precedents for successfully land reform of forestry sector. But overall, social forestry may be still considered as a symbol of alignments to local and indigenous communities. The recommendations from this article are encouraging the change of social forestry concept into the main priority of forestry policies and encouraging a forester into a social entrepreneur.

Energy projects may profoundly impact Indigenous peoples. We consider effects of Canada's proposed Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion on the health and food sovereignty of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) through contamination and impeded access to uncontaminated traditional foods. Federal monitoring and TWN documentation show elevated shellfish biotoxin levels in TWN's traditional territory near the terminus where crude oil is piped. Although TWN restoration work has reopened some shellfish-harvesting sites, pipeline expansion stands to increase health risk directly through rising bioaccumulating chemical toxins as well as through increased hazardous biotoxins. Climate change from increased fossil fuel use, expected via pipeline expansion, also threatens to increase algae blooms through higher temperature and nutrient loading. As the environmental impact assessment process failed to effectively consider these local health concerns in addition to larger impacts of climate change, new assessment is needed attending to linked issues of equity, sustainability and Indigenous food sovereignty.

Background: Shiri is a small mountainous village in the Republic of Daghestan, in the North Caucasus. Daghestan is Russia's southernmost and most ethnically and linguistically diverse republic, a considerable part of which belongs to the Caucasus Biodiversity Hotspot. Various species of wild leafy vegetables are collected in Shiri and there are still many social and cultural practices connected with plant collection in the village. Yet due to migration processes, local knowledge about wild greens and their uses is being slowly forgotten or not passed on. The Shiri language is highly endangered and so are the local plant terminologies and classifications. The unstable political situation hinders local and international research, therefore we find it highly important to explore both what wild leafy vegetables are collected in this mountainous part of Daghestan and how the relation between plants and people is shaped in this linguistically and culturally diverse context. We answer the following questions: what wild leafy vegetables are collected in Shiri? Why are they important to the local people? What is the social aspect of wild leafy vegetable uses?

This paper examines the perception of riverine communities along Rajang River in Sarawak towards the occurrence of disastrous events like severe flood, fire and poor harvest. Such occurrence bring damage and losses to their livelihood in sometimes to the extent of inflicting sudden death among its members. The idea of " disaster " is unfamiliar to the local communities and most of the times " misfortune " are more evident in the local explanation especially in a cultural explanation. The perception of disaster is then looked at the local context and how the communities react to these events are discussed. A disaster management mechanism is in place, under the Department of Social Welfare (JKMS). However, the mechanism is towards the role and coordination of various agencies in the event of disaster. At the riverine community's level, there exist only the protocol to inform the District Office about a disaster and in severe cases, evacuation is the usual action taken. In between waiting for aid to arrive, the riverine communities are left on their own to cope with the untoward happenings. A better disaster management and intervention mechanism should be in place to reduce social, economic and also psychological impact of the victims. The empirical data for this research were gathered through interview and participation observation in eight villages along Rajang River. The headman of villages were interviewed on their views and experiences about disasters. The process of rituals were documented in order to grasp a better understanding on how riverine communities perceive disasters happened and how it could be prevented in future. Disasters are perceived as uncontrollable events but with reasons. The Christianized riverine communities hold the view that it happened due to rapid development and industrialization. They normally adhere to the directives of the authorities by informing the District Office and wait for aid to arrive. Whereas for the communities who are still practicing the traditional religion, they perceived disasters are the cause of human action. Thus they blame such happenings as action which have inflicted and angered the spiritual world. While waiting for government aid to arrive, the communities will hold rituals to appease the spirits or 'antu'. Religious belief plays an important role in how the riverine communities in Rajang River perceived the cause and occurrence of disasters. Religious belief therefore influence the kind of resilience measures undertaken by the communities. Not forgetting, the study is embedded by Cultural theory launched by Mary Douglas, Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky (1982) as well as the Resilience Theory which is important in discussing on individual perception and interpretation towards the risk surround them. Introduction This study aims to identify the effective resilience strategies employed by the local riverine communities at Rajang River towards the disastrous events and their perception on the term " disaster ". Studies on disaster and disaster management have been carried out by many researchers and seem to become one of the important issues in the academic enquiry. Most often, disasters are discussed in relation to the questions of environmental conservation and resource deprivation as well as public health issue. The globalized perspective on disaster then bring along the existed disaster mechanism which sometimes attention on how disaster is

The contribution deals with the importance of knowledge, skills and traditional lifestyles of local and indigenous peoples for the management of geotourism destinations, ie. destinations with distinctive, scenically attractive and scientifically valuable landscapes. For example, these may include geoparks, protected areas or UNESCO World Heritage sites. It focuses on the analysis of the level and form of usage or at least the respect for this know-how passed from generation to generation and for other elements of collective memory of these destinations. The authors presume that the quantitative and qualitative level of usage of this traditional know-how in geotourism destination management correlates positively with the long-standing sustainability of these environmentally sensitive destinations. Secondary data (eg. geoparks’ annual and revalidation reports) as well as primary data (brief questionnaire) were used to verify this hypothesis.

Indigenous and local knowledge systems are characterised by a 'knowledge-practice-belief' complex that plays a critical role for biodiversity management and conservation on indigenous lands. However, few studies take into consideration the interconnected relationship between the social processes underpinning knowledge accumulation, generation and transmission. The study draws on ethnobotanical research to explore plant uses, practices and belief systems developed among the indigenous Vhavenda in South Africa for sustaining indigenous plant resources and highlights some of the forces of change influencing the acquisition and transmission of knowledge. Data was collected from September-November 2016 from 31 individuals by means of semi-structured interviews; walks in home gardens, cultivated fields, montane forests and deciduous woodlands; and vouchering of plant species in six villages (Duthuni, Tshidzivhe, Vuvha, Lwamondo, Mashau and Tshiendeulu) in the Vhembe District of So...

The contribution deals with the potential of indigenous knowledge for the geotourism sustainability of the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark (Nicaragua). This indigenous knowledge includes traditional, orally transmitted wisdom, skills and lifestyle of indigenous peoples built on their intensive linkage to nature and verified by time. The article focuses on the analysis of potential of integration of this traditional know-how passed from generation to generation and as well as other elements of collective memory into the philosophy, management and products of the emerging geotourism destination of Rio Coco Geopark. Author presumes that the integration of local indigenous knowledge into the geotourism developed by Rio Coco Geopark has potential to increase the sustainability level of this geotourism.
To verify this hypothesis, the local indigenous people – Chorotegas were inquired. The research of these native people was conducted in all four municipalities of Rio Coco Geopark recognized as indigenous and it employed methods of participant observation, photo-documentation, focal group discussions, life history narratives and local informants (indigenous leaders, healers, midwifes etc.) interviewing. The main potential was found in the system of values related to nature (e.g. respect for Mother Earth as a life giving entity) and related natural resources management, the systematic involvement of seniors into the top management, using cosmology and natural cycles into the local agriculture and medicine, using the traditional knowledge in processing of local crops and natural raw materials as well as keeping and transmission of many interesting indigenous legends and rites connected to the local geoheritage and other elements of local nature.
Findings of the research indicate that the sensible and gradual fusion of the modern science knowledge with the traditional indigenous knowledge can essentially assist with optimization of the environmental, socio-cultural and economic tourism impacts. It could be assumed that it pays not only for the aspiring Rio Coco Geopark but also for other destinations with important geoheritage and related fragile natural and cultural heritage.

For much of the 20th century, indigenous cosmologies, understood as the totalizing worldviews of delimited social groups, were one of ethnology’s central topics. In the last few decades, however, the concept of cosmology no longer sat well with many ethnologists’ wariness of identifying social wholes as analytic units and with accepting correspondences of social organization with orders of time, space, and color, among others. Recently, Allen Abramson and Martin Holbraad, in their 2014 book Framing Cosmologies, called for a “second wind” of anthropologists’ attention to cosmologies, now including popular understandings of Western science. While endorsing this broadened attention to cosmology and the uses of analyst’s perspectives, I call for remaining attentive to the practical uses of cosmologies by the actors that ethnographers learn from. This entails attending to the social accountabilities and organizational contexts that constrain how people act. I seek to illustrate this by drawing on ethnographies of fishers in south India as well as of astrophysicists in Germany.

This paper provides a brief discussion on the implications and outcomes of ethnographic filmmaking as a means to understanding environmental perception among farming communities. I argue that the unique contribution of filmmaking as a research method lies in its epistemological ability to engage with diverse ways of knowing. In this paper, I provide a close examination of a vignette filmed during my research to demonstrate how this methodological and analytical approach can be used to reveal environmental perception and knowledge as processes, rather than as substances.

Culture and tradition have long been the domains of social science, particularly social/cultural anthropology and various forms of heritage studies. However, many environmental scientists whose research addresses environmental management, conservation, and restoration are also interested in traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous and local knowledge, and local environmental knowledge (hereafter TEK), not least because policymakers and international institutions promote the incorporation of TEK in environmental work. In this article, we examine TEK usage in peer-reviewed articles by environmental scientists published in 2020. This snapshot of environmental science scholarship includes both critical discussions of how to incorporate TEK in research and management and efforts to do so for various scholarly and applied purposes. Drawing on anthropological discussions of culture, we identify two related patterns within this literature: a tendency toward essentialism and a tendency t...

This chapter examines the experience of local level reading of the weather, seasons and climate change by elderly women heads of households in Gutsa Village Domboshava Communal Lands, Goromonzi District. The methodological approach draws from ethnographic field research which included the use of life-history interviews, Focus Group Discussions and participant observation for close to nineteen months in the study village. Findings show that in the study village various sources of local knowledge are used for weather forecasting. Elderly women use their local stocks of knowledge for local level reading and forecasting of the weather, seasons as well as understanding climate change and how humans can directly influence the weather. Understanding and reading the weather is mainly achieved through examining the behaviour of flora and fauna. Increasingly there has emerged the use of a new weather forecasting technique in the form of prophecy from Independent African Churches.

Abstrak: Tujuan dari penelitian yaitu meningkatkan kemampuan menulis kreatif siswa sekolah dasar melalui pembelajaran berbasis kearifan lokal. Kemampuan menulis kreatif siswa sekolah dasar akan meningkat jika materi dan proses pembelajaran menggunakan pembelajaran berbasis kearifan lokal. Pembelajaran berbasis kearifan lokal akan memudahkan siswa untuk menrima pengetahuan yang diperoleh melalui proses pembelajaran. Metode penelitian yang digunakan di dalam penelitian ini yaitu metode Penelitian Tindakan Kelas. Alur penelitian tindakan kelas terdiri dari empat kegiatan pokok, yaitu perencanaan, pelaksanaan, pengamatan, dan refleksi. Teknik Analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini merupakan teknik analisis data deskriptif kualitatif. Data-data verbal yang terkumpul ketika penelitian akan dianalisis oleh peneliti. Data yang dikumpulkan meliputi data hasil observasi, wawancara, dan hasil belajar siswa. Observasi dilakukan untuk mendapatkan data aktivitas siswa selama proses pembelajaran, sedangkan wawancara untuk mendapatkan informasi tentang kemampuan siswa ketika proses menghasilkan menulis kreatif. Hasil penelitian berdasarkan 2 siklus yang telah didapatkan bahwa pembelajaran berbasis kearifan lokal yang diterapkan di dalam proses pembelajaran secara signifikan mampu meningkatkan kemampuan menulis kreatif siswa, pada siklus pertama 83 % siswa memperoleh nilai ≤ 70, sedangkan pada siklus kedua ketika proses pembelajaran menggunakan pendekatan kearifan lokal sebanyak 76 % siswa memperoleh nilai ≥ 70. Sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa kemampuan menulis kreatif siswa meningkatkan melalui pembelajaran berbasis kearifan lokal Abstract: The purpose of the research is to improve the creative writing skills of elementary school students through learning based on local wisdom. The ability to write creatively in elementary school students will increase if the material and learning process uses learning based on local wisdom. Local wisdom-based learning will make it easier for students to receive knowledge gained through the learning process. The research method used in this study is the Classroom Action Research method. The classroom action research flow consists of four main activities, namely planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. The data analysis technique used in this study is a descriptive qualitative data analysis technique. Verbal data collected during research will be analyzed by researchers. Data collected includes data on observations, interviews, and student learning outcomes. Observations were conducted to obtain data on student activity during the learning process, while interviews were to obtain information about students' abilities when the process of producing creative writing. The results of the study are based on 2 cycles that have been found that learning based on local wisdom significantly in the learning process can significantly improve students' creative writing skills, in the first cycle 83% of students scored ≤ 70, whereas in the second cycle when the learning process uses a local wisdom approach as many as 76% of students scored ≥ 70. So it can be concluded that students' creative writing skills improve through learning based on local wisdom PENDAHULUAN Pendidikan memegang peranan yang pertama dan utama dalam menunjang kemajuan bangsa. Bangsa yang cerdas menjadikan pendidikan sebagai pondasi dalam membangun

Culture and tradition have long been the domains of social science, particularly social/cultural anthropology and various forms of heritage studies. However, many environmental scientists whose research addresses environmental management, conservation, and restoration are also interested in traditional ecological knowledge, indigenous and local knowledge, and local environmental knowledge (hereafter TEK), not least because policymakers and international institutions promote the incorporation of TEK in environmental work. In this article, we examine TEK usage in peer-reviewed articles by environmental scientists published in 2020. This snapshot of environmental science scholarship includes both critical discussions of how to incorporate TEK in research and management and efforts to do so for various scholarly and applied purposes. Drawing on anthropological discussions of culture, we identify two related patterns within this literature: a tendency toward essentialism and a tendency t...

This paper provides a brief discussion on the implications and outcomes of ethnographic filmmaking as a means to understanding environmental perception among farming communities. I argue that the unique contribution of filmmaking as a research method lies in its epistemological ability to engage with diverse ways of knowing. In this paper, I provide a close examination of a vignette filmed during my research to demonstrate how this methodological and analytical approach can be used to reveal environmental perception and knowledge as processes, rather than as substances.

Biodiversity conservation is becoming a global agenda operating on an equally global arena. The name of the game is communication and collaboration across cultures and languages facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet and email. Part and parcel of globalization, biodiversity conservation networking is increasingly facilitated through the use of the English language, but this cannot be separated from a certain promotion of Western values. To what extent can ICTs be used to increase understanding and awareness of the intricate connections between culture and language? How important are languages when we seek to understand the connections between biodiversity conservation and culture? How important are languages when we seek to involve people in conservation?

Biodiversity cervation is becoming a global agenda operating on an equally global arena. The name of the game is communication and collaboration across cultures and languages, facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet and email. Part and parcel of globalization, biodiversity conservation networking is increasingly facilitated through the use of the English language, but this cannot be separated from a certain promotion of Western values. To what extent can ICTs be used to increase understanding and awareness of the intricate connections between culture and language? How important are languages when we seek to understand the connections between biodiversity conservation and culture? How important are languages when we seek to involve people in conservation?

Możliwości jakie daje wykorzystanie jakościowych sposobów badań społecznych w analizach  dotyczących świadomości ekologicznej społeczności lokalnych nie są w naszym kraju powszechnie znane, a metody te nie są stosowane. Jak pokazują przykłady z innych krajów posłużenie się wynikami tak przeprowadzonych badań pozwala na lepsze wdrożenie planów ochrony oraz pełniejsze zdiagnozowanie stanu świadomości ekologicznej danej społeczności. Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia te metody i pokazuje w jaki sposób należy je wykorzystywać, w zestawieniu z powszechnie stosowanymi w ochronie środowiska metodami ilościowymi.

Biodiversity conservation is becoming a global agenda operating on an equally global arena. The name of the game is communication and collaboration across cultures and languages, facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet and email. Part and parcel of globalization, biodiversity conservation networking is increasingly facilitated by the use of the English language… but this cannot be separated from a certain promotion of Western values. To what extent can ICTs be used to increase understanding and awareness of the intricate connections between culture and language? How important are languages when we seek to understand the connection between biodiversity conservation and culture? How important are languages when we seek to involve people in conservation Globalization can prompt the exclusion and marginalization of diverse categories of people, especially among the least powerful in developing countries and countries in transition. At th...

Biodiversity conservation is becoming a global agenda operating on an equally global arena. The name of the game is communication and collaboration across cultures and languages, facilitated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet and email. Part and parcel of globalization, biodiversity conservation networking is increasingly facilitated by the use of the English language… but this cannot be separated from a certain promotion of Western values. To what extent can ICTs be used to increase understanding and awareness of the intricate connections between culture and language? How important are languages when we seek to understand the connection between biodiversity conservation and culture? How important are languages when we seek to involve people in conservation Globalization can prompt the exclusion and marginalization of diverse categories of people, especially among the least powerful in developing countries and countries in transition. At th...