Traditional Knowledge Bulletin |
- This week in review … UNU article examines socio-ecological production landscapes on the road to Rio+20
- Resource: Dissemination materials for IPSI and the Satoyama Initiative
- This week in review … PFII Secretariat invites applications for internship positions
- This week in review … UNESCO news of relevance to TK
- This week in review … Research integrates Inuit insight on killer whales
- This week in review … Zimbabwe farmers turn back to tradition as rainfall changes
- Resource: Research on supernatural beliefs and sustainable forest use
- This week in review … Elders track lost Indigenous languages in Australia
This week in review … UNU article examines socio-ecological production landscapes on the road to Rio+20 Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:55 AM PST Revitalising socio-ecological production landscapes YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: This article is part of UNU's Rio+20 series, featuring research or commentary on the conference's themes of green economy, poverty eradication and the institutional framework for sustainable development. The authors argue that socio-ecological production landscapes embody many aspects of the green economy concept and provide not only useful indications of how humans and nature have harmoniously interacted in the past, but also guidance on how to transition to sustainable societies built on green economies. Their common characteristics include, among other things: extensive use of locally available and renewable resources, recycling of nutrients, spatial and temporal diversity, reliance on local crop varieties, and decision-making based on the knowledge and culture of local inhabitants. In all cases, a common element is the vast quantity of traditional knowledge that has been accumulated by the people engaging in such close interactions with their natural surroundings. Read the article … |
Resource: Dissemination materials for IPSI and the Satoyama Initiative Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:52 AM PST Dissemination materials for IPSI and the Satoyama Initiative In an effort to increase international awareness of the Initiative and enhance understanding of the importance of socio-ecological production landscapes in supporting livelihoods and biodiversity, the Secretariat of the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) has circulated dissemination materials including presentations, brochures and posters. Further information, including links to materials … |
This week in review … PFII Secretariat invites applications for internship positions Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:48 AM PST Internship positions at the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues The Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is inviting applications for internships lasting three months, with possibility of extension, starting from 9 April 2012. Applications must be submitted through the portal UN Careers. The relevant Job Opening is No. 22557. Please note that the deadline for applications is 10 February 2012. Visit UN Careers to submit an application … |
This week in review … UNESCO news of relevance to TK Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:45 AM PST Reinforcing the transmission of Mayangna culture, knowledge and language PARIS, FRANCE: Like many other indigenous peoples, the Mayangna people of the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua, are concerned about the erosion of their culture, language and knowledge. During the past twenty years, the Nicaraguan education system has taken important strides towards ensuring that formal education accommodates the unique needs of indigenous children through its new curriculum which allows for locally appropriate adjustments and additions to be made. However, much work remains before Mayangna language, knowledge and culture is fully integrated into this system; appropriate pedagogical content and tools are needed. To this end, the Ministry of Education and the UNESCO-LINKS programme worked alongside Mayangna education professionals to develop materials. They developed a pilot programme, complete with a teacher's guide and a textbook. The material was introduced with a workshop in Nicaragua held from 24-28 January 2012 that marked the launch of the pilot phase. The test phase will be followed by a revision, training, production and distribution phase, and then a final implementation and monitoring phase. A team of technical advisors from the Ministry of Education, UNESCO and UNICEF support and monitor the project, while the main work is carried out by a team of Mayangna school supervisors. The final output will be the roll out of a complete set of trialled, pedagogical materials; training of teachers in the use of the materials; and a monitoring of the impact of the project as well as on-going support for teachers. Read the release … US$1.02 million project launched in Asia and the Pacific PARIS, FRANCE: UNESCO, with the financial support of Japan, will be working hand in hand with governments, civil society and communities to ensure that intangible cultural heritage safeguarding efforts in eight countries of the region (Bhutan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Timor Leste) are supported and sustained. This eight-country project is part of the global UNESCO Programme to build capacity for the implementation of the Convention around the world. With time running as the enormous reservoir of cultural practices, knowledge systems and rituals across the region is increasingly threatened, safeguarding of living heritage becomes ever more critical to the sustainable development of these countries concerned. Read the release … Help Kiribati Stone Warriors Fight APIA, SAMOA: The Kiribati Government recently organised a workshop on the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Kiribati, in order to discuss a safeguarding strategy, in cooperation with the UNESCO Office in Apia and with financial assistance of the Government of Japan. One of the most notable outcomes of the workshop was the support expressed by the Elders to Kiribati's ratification of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention. In Kiribati, the Elders have been responsible for overseeing matters relating to the community life in the country. Historically, they have been regarded as source of wisdom by community members and their authorities still prevails even nowadays. The effectiveness of any external interventions therefore depends on the endorsement of the Elders of the country. A draft of five-year strategy and action plan for Intangible Cultural Heritage safeguarding in Kiribati was also prepared during the workshop by the participants and endorsed by the Elders. Like many other Pacific islands, in Kiribati heritage is an all-embracing concept. Tangible and intangible cultural heritage co-exist together in living environment. For example, in Kiribati there remains a unique cultural heritage, called Nnabakana. Its history has been known to this date through oral histories and traditions transmitted from generation to generation among local communities. Nnabakana, located at Tabiteuea, one of the southern islands of Kiribati, contains huge stone monuments with associated stories of battles that were fought among islands around the 16th century. These monuments are human-made stone pillars, six of which remain unspoiled, resembling giant human warriors built to scare away enemies. Some of them are more than three metres high. The Kiribati's Culture Division recently undertook research on the site. Through the research, the Culture Division obtained GPS data, images and video footages relating to Nnabakana site as well as interviews with locals living nearby. The outcome of the research clearly showed the unique value of the Nnabakana site in Kiribati for the cultural history of early civil wars between islands. The rich oral stories on the civil war makes the site particularly interesting for Kiribati where foreign contents still dominate its history education at school. The research result also shows the urgent need of its safeguarding since the site located at the coastal zone is exposed to harsh weather conditions facing threats from rising sea level. The site is fully exposed to the hot sunny days, affecting most pillars that cracked and toppled. The strong winds from the west, high tides and big waves are also forcing the pillars to fall and get destroyed. The Kiribati's Culture Division presented the outcome of the research at the Pacific World Heritage Workshop held in Apia in September last year. The presentation caught the attention of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and resulted in the financial assistance from the European Union through the Secretariat to support a mapping exercise of the site in 2012. This new grant will allow the Culture Division to obtain carbon dating information and to carry out further documentation and recording. The steps to be followed would be to organise consultations with the Elders of communities concerned and to formulate a long-term management and safeguarding plan for this unique heritage. Read the release … |
This week in review … Research integrates Inuit insight on killer whales Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:37 AM PST Inuit insight on fear of killer whales MANITOBA, CANADA: Combining scientific observations with Canadian Inuit traditional knowledge has provided new insights on how killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Arctic eat and behave. Biologists from Manitoba visited 11 Canadian Nunavut Inuit communities and collated information from over 100 interviews with hunters and elders as part of this research. They published their results in the open access journal Aquatic Biosystems, saying that the increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could "seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance." The authors conclude that by combining traditional ecological knowledge and scientific approaches, a more holistic view of killer whale predation in the eastern Canadian Arctic relevant to management and policy is provided. Continuing the long-term relationship between scientists and hunters will provide for successful knowledge integration and has resulted in considerable improvement in understanding of killer whale ecology relevant to management of prey species. Combining scientists and Inuit knowledge will assist in northerners adapting to the restructuring of the Arctic marine ecosystem associated with warming and loss of sea ice. Read the article … Read a related article on Nunatsiaq Online … Read the article by Ferguson SH, Higdon JW and Westdal KH, Prey items and predation behavior of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Nunavut, Canada based on Inuit hunter interviews, Aquatic Biosystems 2012, 8:3 (30 January 2012) … |
This week in review … Zimbabwe farmers turn back to tradition as rainfall changes Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:34 AM PST Zimbabwe farmers turn back to tradition as rainfall changes ESIGODINI, ZIMBABWE: Whether rotating her crops, sowing seed from previous harvests or gathering rainwater, Susan Gama is pulling out all the stops in an attempt to keep her livelihood going. Subsistence farmers like Gama in this southern African nation are reverting to traditional farming knowledge and local experimentation to cope with the challenges of poor and unpredictable rainfall, which experts believe is linked to climate change. "We have always known that our grandparents kept seed from the previous harvest for planting in the new season, but … some people were instead advising us to buy what they termed drought-resistant varieties," Gama said from the small plot of land where she grows maize and groundnuts. But Gama said that the newer varieties have not consistently produced a good crop on her community's land, apparently because of very poor rains. So she and other local farmers are conducting their own experiments on what seed works best in poor rain conditions. Read the article … |
Resource: Research on supernatural beliefs and sustainable forest use Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:32 AM PST Supernatural plays key role in forest use BOGOR, INDONESIA: The power of supernatural beliefs to influence sustainable forest use in indigenous communities should be considered in land management strategies, says a recent study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Center for International Research in Agronomy and Development (CIRAD). "The fact is that for many communities, supernatural agencies are realities," said CIFOR post-doc research fellow Masatoshi Sasaoka who, together with CIRAD scientist Yves Laumonier, studied the belief system of indigenous peoples in the Seram Island forest in eastern Indonesia and how it related to their use of natural resources. "Many indigenous resource management practices are closely related to their view of the supernatural world. If this is overlooked in new management strategies, and the role of the local people's belief in the supernatural is under-evaluated, then the self-direction of local people in resource management can be depressed, and local institutions which could contribute to sustainable and socially equitable resource use can be lost." The CIFOR study highlights how forest management and supernatural beliefs are linked in an upland forest community of around 320 people in central Seram, where cuscus (a tree marsupial), wild boar and timor deer make up 90 percent of the wild animal food resources consumed by villagers for protein. The villagers have divided the primary forest into more than 250 forest lots for hunting. When the number of animals decreases in a lot, the owners impose a temporary prohibition on hunting there, seli kaitahu, asking the forest spirits and ancestors to restore the game population. The only enforcement of seli kaitahu is the underlying belief that violation of the prohibition brings misfortune upon a violator and their family from forest spirits and ancestors. Infringements on seli kaitahu are rare, showing that people's ideas about supernatural agencies and their powers still strongly influence the forest resource use mechanisms set in place. And because belief helps the people give supernatural explanations to misfortunes that befall them, the power of supernatural agents to keep these forest management laws is repeatedly reinforced. Read the blog post, including link to research … |
This week in review … Elders track lost Indigenous languages in Australia Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:30 AM PST Elders track lost Indigenous languages QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA: Workshops aimed at teaching people about Indigenous languages are being held across central Queensland this year. This week the township of Woorabinda became the first community to take part in the workshops, which are run in two parts. There is a website resource, an interactive website called Sharing Culture that people can use for uploading images, video and audio material; and training support for language workers. Read the article … |
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