Women, (re)birth and collective wellbeing on Barkindji Kiira

Humans who interact directly with local ecosystems possess traditional ecological knowledge that enables them to detect and predict ecosystem changes. Humans who use scientific ecological methods can use species such as mollusks that lay down annual growth rings to detect past environmental variation and use statistical models to make predictions about future change. We used traditional ecological knowledge shared by local Inupiaq, combined with growth histories of two species of mollusks, at different trophic levels, to study local change in the coastal ecosystems of Kotzebue, Alaska, an area in the Arctic without continuous scientific monitoring. For the mollusks, a combination of the Arctic Oscillation and total Arctic ice coverage, and summer air temperature and summer precipitation explained 79-80% of the interannual variability in growth of the suspension feeding Greenland cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) and the predatory whelk (Neptunea hero) respectively, indicating these mollusks seem to be impacted by local and regional environmental parameters, and should be good biomonitors for change in coastal Alaska. The change experts within the Kotzebue community were the elders and the fishers, and they observed changes in species abundance and behaviors, including benthic species, and infer that a fundamental change in the climate has taken place within the area. We conclude combining traditional and scientific ecological knowledge provides greater insight than either approach alone, and offers a powerful way to document change in an area that otherwise lacks widespread quantitative monitoring.

Among the different factors associated to change in traditional ecological knowledge, the study of the relations between cultural change and traditional ecological knowledge has received scan and inadequate scholarly attention. Using data from indigenous peoples of an Amazonian society facing increasing exposure to the mainstream Bolivian society, we analyzed the relation between traditional ecological knowledge, proxied with individual plant use knowledge (n=484), and cultural change, proxied with individual- and village-level (n=47) measures of attachment to traditional beliefs and values. We found that both the individual level of detachment to traditional values and the village level of agreement in detachment to traditional values were associated with individual levels of plant use knowledge, irrespective of other proxy measures for cultural change. Because both the individual- and the village-level variables bear statistically significant associations with plant use knowledge, our results suggest that both the individual- and the supra-individual level processes of cultural change are related to the erosion of plant use knowledge. Results from our work highlight the importance of analyzing processes that happen at intermediary social units -the village in our case study- to explain changes in traditional ecological knowledge.

In her 2007 ‘fairy tale’ about ‘epistemicide’, Karen Bennett charged scientific discourse with attempted murder. Despite recently employing the notion of ‘knowledge ecology’ in the EPISTRANS project, Bennett remains suspicious of science. This article argues, to the contrary, that scientific discourses can complement humanistic discourses, including the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of Indigenous minorities. Although proselytising religions and illiberal states may have tried to suppress TEK in the past in the name of science, ‘epistemicidal’ may not be the best way of characterising the knowledge ecologies in certain settler states today. In Taiwan, academics and officials are supporting efforts by pastors to translate TEK. One such effort yielded a book of ‘autoethnobotanical’ translation that explicitated one kind of TEK. Entitled Seediq Ethnic Plants, the book also involved bidirectional interlingual translation: TEK in Seediq was translated into Chinese, and Modern Ecological Knowledge in Chinese was translated into Seediq. Textual analysis showed how culturally sensitive the interlingual translators of TEK had to be, while fieldwork revealed how difficult it was to translate tactile, tacit TEK discursively. It also suggested that the motivation behind inter-epistemic translation in this case was not resistance to epistemicide but rather linguistic and cultural development.

传统生态知识是民族生态学研究的核心范畴，国外已有多年的研究基础，国内的相关研究正是方兴未艾。通过文献查询和比较分析等方法，介绍了国外已有的传统生态知识的民族生态学分析框架的3个模型：知识-实践-信仰的三角形框架；本土经验知识-资源管理知识-社会制度知识-世界观知识的四椭圆框架；事实观察-管理体系-旧有及当下利用-伦理价值-文化特征-宇宙观的五边形框架。结合田野调查研究，提出了一个立体的传统生态知识的民族生态学分析模型，强调了传统生态知识的动态特征，将民族对于自然的被动认识和主动认知、民族人际关系规范、民族的哲学与伦理等方面所呈现出的传统生态知识进行了分类，从而为民族生态学的调查研究提供了方法上的建议。最后总结了这个立体的传统生态知识分析框架的意义，并建议在我国的生态文明建设中发展和应用民族生态学。;This article argues that Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is a core domain of ethnoecology, which is at the stage of rapid development and one of the forefronts of ecology. Ethnoecology is applied to biodiversity conservation and relevant academic papers and conferences recently increase. Drawing on field research that documents cognitive difference in the perception of the environment and ecological resources, it has been demonstrated that various epistemological modes exist. Consequently, the diversity natural resource management methods observed across the world arise from the diversity of local knowledge of the surrounding ecosystems and resources. Internationally, TEK is a long-standing and fully developed research field and scholars have proposed several analytical frameworks that help advance the theoretical development of ethnoecology. However, research on this topic in China is still in its infancy. Although there are a few research results, both the extent and scope of TEK research in China need to develop in order to capture traditional ecological knowledge found in China's rich biological and cultural diversity. Various forms of Chinese TEK have been observed and classified, however local and novel analytical frameworks remain scarce. Through literature review and comparative analysis, three of the existing overseas TEK analysis frameworks are introduced in this paper: <em>Triangular framework of knowledge-practice-belief; Four concentric ellipses for empirical knowledge, resource management systems, social institutions, and worldview; Pentagonal framework for factual observations, management systems, past and current use, ethics and values, culture and identity, and cosmology</em>. Based on the above existing frameworks and combined with our field research, this article puts forward the <em>Three-dimensional analytic hierarchy model of traditional ecological knowledge from the perspective of ethnoecology</em> and emphasizes the dynamic characteristics of TEK. It suggests that ethnicity being an inseparable part of an objective biological world creates space for subjective yet real knowledge of the ecology and environment. Ethnic group is both the creator and user of traditional ecology knowledge. Ethnic group's subjective understanding of the nature including human and biological world constitutes its ethnic ecology knowledge, which is the first aspect of ethnoecology focuses on. Going beyond direct knowledge of ecological facts, ethnic groups develop natural resources management systems to proactively respond to and reformate the nature and create social and legal norms to regulate behaviors to appropriate natural resources. Ethnic group's natural resources management systems and social norms are the second and the third aspects that ethnoecology research should focus on. The natural resource management models are created and embedded in a larger word-view and philosophy held by the ethnic group. Ethnic group's spiritual world is the fourth aspect of ethnoecology research. The Three-dimensional analytic framework in this article provides a thorough ethnoecological perspective for researching TEK as the passive and active cognition of nature, natural resources management, social institutions, and understanding of spiritual world. The existing differences among different ethnic groups' world view and spiritual belief should not be overseen. However, those differences can be accommodated and addressed by this research framework. Finally, the paper draws the conclusion that the three-dimensional analytical framework of TEK can be applied as ethnoecology develops its function in the context of the ecological civilization construction in China.

Climate change puts indigenous people at greater risk than others. Nevertheless, because of their intimate knowledge of their land, indigenous peoples' traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) could be the answer to fighting climate change. This paper aims to explain the role that TEK plays in responding to climate change. Document analysis included grey literature as well as peer-reviewed literature and project websites linked to indigenous climate change adaptation knowledge. The findings show that TEK not only helps indigenous people cope with environmental and climate pressures, but also promotes socio-ecological system resilience.&#x0D; Keywords: climate change adaptation; traditional knowledge; traditional ecological knowledge; resilience&#x0D; eISSN 2398-4295 ©2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers (AMER); Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians / Africans / Arabians (ABRA); Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies (cE-Bs), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia&#x0D; DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v5i19.194

Many coastal peri-urban and urban populations in Oceania are heavily reliant on terrestrial and marine ecosystem services for subsistence and wellbeing. However, climate change and urbanisation have put significant pressure on ecosystems and compelled nations and territories in Oceania to urgently adapt. This article, with a focus on Pacific Island Oceania but some insight from Aotearoa New Zealand, reviews key literature focused on ecosystem health and human health and wellbeing in Oceania and the important potential contribution of nature-based solutions to limiting the negative impacts of climate change and urbanisation. The inextricable link between human wellbeing and provision of ecosystem services is well established. However, given the uniqueness of Oceania, rich in cultural and biological diversity and traditional ecological knowledge, these links require further examination leading potentially to a new conceptualisation of wellbeing frameworks in relation to human/nature relationships. Rapidly urbanising Oceania has a growing body of rural, peri-urban and urban nature-based solutions experience to draw from. However, important gaps in knowledge and practice remain. Pertinently, there is a need, potential—and therefore opportunity—to define an urban design agenda positioned within an urban ecosystem services framework, focused on human wellbeing and informed by traditional ecological knowledge, determined by and relevant for those living in the islands of Oceania as a means to work towards effective urban climate change adaptation.

This paper explores the integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) into secondary school curricula to enhance ecological literacy, cultural diversity, and sustainability education. TEK, rooted in Indigenous practices and place-based understanding, offers a relational approach to environmental stewardship, contrasting with the objective framework of Scientific Ecological Knowledge (SEK). Despite its potential, barriers such as insufficient teacher training and cultural sensitivity hinder implementation. This paper argues that TEK can foster critical thinking, strengthen Indigenous students' cultural identity, and promote cross-cultural awareness among non-Indigenous learners. By proposing hybrid pedagogical models combining TEK and SEK and drawing on Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (TRC, 2015), it advocates for experiential, community-based learning. While specific case studies on TEK integration are limited, this paper offers practical strategies for educators in Ontario and Canada to incorporate TEK, fostering sustainable practices and reconciliation.

Insect repellents have been used to reduce human-vector contact for long periods of time in different parts of the world. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge of traditional mosquito repellent plants among inhabitants of Kolla Temben district, Ethiopia. Two hundred and forty households were selected for an ethnobotanical survey using stratified, systematic random sampling. One adult leader from each household was interviewed on her or his knowledge about traditional mosquito repellent plants. The ethnobotanical survey was carried out from January - March, 2010. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS, version 16. The level of significance was determined using 95% confidence interval. Ninety-five percent of the respondents had knowledge regarding traditional mosquito repellent plants. Application of smoke by burning (73%) the parts plants was the most common practice among the inhabitants. There was no significant association between knowledge of traditional mosquito repellent plants with age (p = 0.402), sex (p = 0.067) or educational status (p = 0.052) of the respondents. Moreover, the survey revealed that the most commonly known traditional mosquito repellent plants were Otostegia integrifolia (41.7%), Silene macroserene (24.6%,) (Olea europeae (22.5%), Melia azedarach (17.5%), Calpurnia aurea (9.6%),Dodonaea angustifolia (8.7%), Eucalyptus globulus (8.3%), Ere (Aloe spp) 6.7% and Sasa (Otostegia fruticosa) 2.5%. These preliminary findings suggested that the studied community has potentially important knowledge about traditional mosquito repellent plants. Therefore, further study on conserving the knowledge and evaluating the efficacy of the plants must be done. Key words: Ethno botanical survey, Mosquito repellent plants, knowledge, Kolla Temben.

This study of customary harvests of sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus chicks by Rakiura Maori compares the utility of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and ecological science for understanding patterns in prey availability. We recorded TEK of 28 muttonbirders about emergence patterns and variation in chick size at different aspects of 14 breeding islands and in their coastal fringe compared to inland areas. Spatial and temporal variation of chick availability were measured using the methods of ecological science in the 2001 harvest season across Putauhinu Island, south west of Rakiura, New Zealand. As predicted by TEK, titi emerged earlier from west than east coast locations on Putauhinu. Scientific measures were also consistent with an earlier emergence in coastal compared to inland areas as asserted by TEK, but conclusive inference is potentially confounded by movement of chicks between burrows just before fledging. A TEK construct predicting heavier chicks on the west coast was not supported by scientific measurements. We also measured the characteristics of areas preferred for harvesting so that we could gauge representativeness of the areas “sampled” by the muttonbirders to accumulate their TEK. Within forested habitat, areas harvested by muttonbirders had 62–65% higher chick density than unharvested areas. The muttonbirders concentrated harvesting where there was less ground cover and taller canopy cover and only hunted on nights and times of the season when harvesting was most profitable. Therefore, TEK may be less able to detect wider‐scale variation and harvest impacts on prey in particular. Short runs of scientific information from spatially and temporally stratified sampling will complement and assist inference from longer term TEK. As shown in this case study, TEK and science often agree on pattern, but are likely to disagree on why a pattern exists.

Although it boasts a rich historical wealth of traditional ecological knowledge, the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa continues to be an environmental hotspot since the mid-twentieth century, suffering land degradation, overharvesting of resources and water scarcity. Over the years, much research effort has been directed to investigating how local communities use traditional knowledge to manage resources. By and large, the studies argue that traditional knowledge provided effective management strategies in the past, hence communities should continue using it. This raises the question: what is happening with traditional ecological knowledge in contemporary rural Eastern Cape in South Africa? To address this question, this work used snowball sampling to recruit 83 respondents from three villages of Colana, Gogela and Nozitshena for in-depth interviews. The respondents were elderly women and men whose families had at least a two-generation history of living in these villages. Using the meta-theory of critical realism, particularly its analytical tools of abduction, hermeneutics, dynamism and context, this work found that there are multiple factors, exogenous to traditional ecological knowledge, that make it fail to effectively address environmental challenges in the present-day rural Eastern Cape. They include changed worldviews, legal pluralism and changed lifestyles which are a consequence of adverse incorporation of traditional systems into the South African nation-state system. Indigenous practices, traditions, local ethics, taboos, social conventions, and other cultural practices, that ensured the usefulness of TEK, have been abandoned over time. Incorporation of rural traditional systems into the South African nation-state have been largely adverse. There has been little or no integration of TEK and the “imported” lifestyles. The application of the “plug-in” principle in this case, thus, faces a very formidable task despite the reality that it is the way to go to ensure sustainable natural resources management and the achievement of some of the SDGs.

Traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) has become a widely used concept in theory and practice.TEKencompasses environmental knowledge acquired by people native to, or long‐term inhabitants of, specific places, over long periods of time; knowledge which is then assumed to apply only to those local areas.TEKhas indeed been particularly characterised as a use of local knowledge in the search for solutions to specific, local, environmental problems. Critics ofTEKmay then argue that it is not based on a strong conceptual framework, and accordingly it cannot be generalised. However, different local practices, which produced analogous outcomes elsewhere, may share common features; moreover, they may be based on general principles behind local ecological knowledge. This is despite the fact that empirical knowledge on specific areas is perceived as local by the producers themselves, and is regarded as local by scientific researchers. The purpose of this paper is to explore some potential general principles that undergird the local component ofTEKby focusing on theTEKof soils and geomorphology. We focus onTEK's local dimension; we explore the extent of the local by looking for analogousTEKpractices in different, contrasting regions. First we report on local agricultural and land management techniques in theNorthAtlanticIslands, following their occupation by the pre‐historicNorse migrationc. 800ADup to 1200AD. Then we discuss how the findings from that time period exhibit general principles regarding soil and geomorphicTEKthat occurs in other parts of the world and time periods. We conclude by putting forward potential implications for generalities aboutTEK.

This paper introduces the special feature of Ecology and Society entitled "Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Global Environmental Change. The special feature addresses two main research themes. The first theme concerns the resilience of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (hereafter TEK) and the conditions that might explain its loss or persistence in the face of global change. The second theme relates to new findings regarding the way in which TEK strengthens community resilience to respond to the multiple stressors of global environmental change. Those themes are analyzed using case studies from Africa, Asia, America and Europe. Theoretical insights and empirical findings from the studies suggest that despite the generalized worldwide trend of TEK erosion, substantial pockets of TEK persist in both developing and developed countries. A common trend on the studies presented here is hybridization, where traditional knowledge, practices, and beliefs are merged with novel forms of knowledge and technologies to create new knowledge systems. The findings also reinforce previous hypotheses pointing at the importance of TEK systems as reservoirs of experiential knowledge that can provide important insights for the design of adaptation and mitigation strategies to cope with global environmental change. Based on the results from papers in this feature, we discuss policy directions that might help to promote maintenance and restoration of living TEK systems as sources of social-ecological resilience.

The scale of climate change put indigenous people at higher risk than the others. Nonetheless, due to their intimate knowledge of their land, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) held by the indigenous peoples may be the key to combating climate change. This article aims to explain the role that TEK plays in adapting to climate change. Document review included grey literature alongside peer-reviewed literature and project websites related to indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation. The findings show that TEK not only helps indigenous people cope with environmental and climate pressures, but the knowledge system fosters resilience of socio-ecological systems.Keywords: climate change adaptation; traditional knowledge; traditional ecological knowledge; resilienceeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning &amp; Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.2059

In the Netherlands, novel types of community forestry are emerging. The original interpretation of community forestry as common property management connected to indigenous or traditional ecological knowledge hardly applies to these modern manifestations of community forestry. The Dutch cases are primarily based on common identities rather than on common property, and they focus on the management of integrated green spaces rather than of forests only. These examples illustrate how in response to processes of modernisation, both the institutional context of community forestry and its management orientation are changing. In response to dynamics in cultural ecological knowledge, two novel forms of community forestry are identified in the Netherlands: (i) rural approaches towards the management of green spaces reflecting biocultural memories, and (ii) peri-urban approaches towards the management of innovative green spaces reflecting biocultural creativity. While pertinent to the Dutch context, we argue that our proposed reconceptualisation of community forestry to community-based green space management characterised by a sense of shared identity may offer value for cases in other economically developed countries too.

Research into traditional ecological knowledge has become a reference in environmental management. This is followed by ecological wisdom that has emerged and has become a new discourse in landscape planning and design. However, traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom are similar in research and confounding when determining the research scope. Therefore, this study aims to define the distinction between traditional ecological knowledge and ecological wisdom in research through a systematic review of research articles, book chapters, and reviews published from 2017 to 2021. The selected primary studies were analyzed using bibliometric analysis run by VOS Viewer, followed by comparative analysis towards thematic codes. The coding process for the comparative analysis was conducted using NVivo. This study found that research on traditional ecological knowledge and ecological wisdom converges, especially on the topic of indigenous cultural capital, ecosystem services, and sustainability. The distinction between TEK and EW lies in their definition, agent, source, and scope. We propose a conceptual framework to understand the relationship between TEK and EW in the cultural landscape and clarify the scope of the analysis in this research. This study would help scholars develop research on both topics precisely and avoid bias in the theoretical discussion.