@article {590, title = {Indigenous knowledge for biodiversity conservation}, journal = {Ambio}, volume = {22}, year = {1993}, note = {

ArticleType: research-article
Issue Title: Biodiversity: Ecology, Economics, Policy
Full publication date: May 1993
Copyright \© 1993 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences See also: http://repository.ias.ac.in/64142/1/21_pub.pdf (open repository).

}, month = {May 1, 1993}, pages = {151-156}, abstract = {Indigenous peoples with a historical continuity of resource-use practices often possess a broad knowledge base of the behavior of complex ecological systems in their own localities. This knowledge has accumulated through a long series of observations transmitted from generation to generation. Such "diachronic" observations can be of great value and complement the "synchronic" observations on which western science is based. Where indigenous peoples have depended, for long periods of time, on local environments for the provision of a variety of resources, they have developed a stake in conserving, and in some cases, enhancing, biodiversity. They are aware that biological diversity is a crucial factor in generating the ecological services and natural resources on which they depend. Some indigenous groups manipulate the local landscape to augment its heterogeneity, and some have been found to be motivated to restore biodiversity in degraded landscapes. Their practices for the conservation of biodiversity were grounded in a series of rules of thumb which are apparently arrived at through a trial and error process over a long historical time period. This implies that their knowledge base is indefinite and their implementation involves an intimate relationship with the belief system. Such knowledge is difficult for western science to understand. It is vital, however, that the value of the knowledge-practice-belief complex of indigenous peoples relating to conservation of biodiversity is fully recognized if ecosystems and biodiversity are to be managed sustainably. Conserving this knowledge would be most appropriately accomplished through promoting the community-based resource-management systems of indigenous peoples.}, keywords = {biodiversity, South America}, url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/4314060}, author = {Madhav Gadgil and Fikret Berkes and Carl Folke} } @inbook {880, title = {Indigenous history and Amazonian biodiversity}, booktitle = {Changing Tropical Forests: Historical Perspectives on Today{\textquoteright}s Challenges in Central and South America: Proceedings of a Conference Sponsored by the Forest History Society and IUFRO Forestry History Group, Conference held in San Jos{\'e}, Costa Rica}, year = {1992}, month = {1992}, pages = {185-197}, publisher = {Forest History Society}, organization = {Forest History Society}, address = {Durham, NC}, abstract = {The rich biodiversity of Central and South American forests are undergoing difficult times. These forests have been altered throughout history, first by indigenous farming practices and now by state and private sustainable agriculture programs. Swidden type agriculture, practiced by indigenous people, converted many forests to fallows. Fallows and high forests can be compared using the Jaccard coefficient, which is simply the total number of species in a sample area. These numbers tell us that fallow forests represent indigenous reforestation, insofar as species richness of high forests are being replaced by an equivalently rich secondary forest. The number of most important species between fallow and high forests are significantly and predictably different. The indigenous farming practices are undoubtly less destructive than state practices. If modern states cannot protect the remaining indigenous populations, they may lose an abundance of knowledge relating to resource use, management, and biological and ecological diversification. (author)}, keywords = {biodiversity, Central America, ecology, forestry, South America}, isbn = {0-8223-1247-6}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25787422}, author = {William L. Balée}, editor = {Harold K. Steen and Richard P. Tucker} } @inbook {883, title = {Indigenous resource exploitation}, booktitle = {Ecology and Land Management in Amazonia}, year = {1990}, note = {Chapter 4}, month = {1990}, pages = {62-85}, publisher = {Belhaven Press}, organization = {Belhaven Press}, address = {New York/London}, abstract = {This document looks at various forms of indigenous resource exploitation in the Amazon basin. It details plant and animal (both wild and cultivated) use in the forest, savannas, and wetlands by numerous tribes. European influence is also briefly discussed.}, keywords = {Amazon River region, American Indians, Andoke, anteater, aquatic resources, archaeology, Brazil, Colombia, crop production, environmental policy, fishing, food sources, Guyana, hunter-gatherer, maize, manioc, Native Americans, natural resource conservation, nutrition, Piaroa, polyculture, rainforests, shifting cultivation, South America, swiddens, timber , tubers, Uanano, Venezuela, wetlands, Witoto, Yanomamo}, isbn = {1-85293-118-3; 978-1-85293-118-6}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21195403}, author = {Michael J. Eden} } @inbook {850, title = {Agricultural systems on the floodplains of the Peruvian Amazon}, booktitle = {Fragile lands of Latin America: Strategies for sustainable development}, series = {Westview special studies in social, political, and economic development}, year = {1989}, note = {Chapter 5}, month = {1989}, pages = {75-100}, publisher = {Westview Press}, organization = {Westview Press}, address = {Boulder, CO}, abstract = {The "development" of Amazonia continues unabated. Governments sharing the basin are promoting the occupation of the region for reasons that range from land pressures occasioned by inequitable land tenure systems or population pressure, expansion of food and fiber production to meet domestic needs or foreign exchange earnings, to exploitation of natural resources. Development models, however, have been based on those extraneous to the region. This chapter explores those models and systems. (author)}, keywords = {agroforestry, American Indians, climate, fallow, flora, local knowledge, Native Americans, Peru, rainfall, river, shifting cultivation, South America, swiddens}, isbn = {0-8133-7705-6}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18351601}, author = {M{\'a}rio Hiraoka}, editor = {John O. Browder} } @inbook {884, title = {Indigenous soil management in the Amazon basin: Some implications for development}, booktitle = {Fragile lands of Latin America: Strategies for sustainable development}, series = {Westview Special Studies in Social, Political, and Economic Development}, year = {1989}, note = {Chapter 11}, month = {1989}, pages = {166-181}, publisher = {Westview Press}, organization = {Westview Press}, address = {Boulder, CO}, abstract = {This paper focuses on two main issues. First, it discusses the indigenous versus modernization approaches to soil resource management in Amazonian research and development strategies. The production systems of the Kayap{\'o} Indians of southern Para state are compared with those that inform current regional agricultural programs. While indigenous systems are complex, the principles that underlie them are not. Native land management models could be adapted by development planning agencies in a fuller way. Second, the outcomes of Kayap{\'o} and conventional colonist and livestock systems are compared in terms of soil fertility and yields. (author)}, keywords = {American Indians, deforestation, Kayapo, local knowledge, Native Americans, nutrition, pasture, Peru, rainforests, soil degradation, South America, tropical forests, Yurimaguas}, isbn = {0-8133-7705-6; 978-0-8133-7705-6}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18351601}, author = {Susanna B. Hecht}, editor = {John O. Browder} } @inbook {916, title = {Succession management and resource distribution in an Amazonian rain forest}, booktitle = {Resource management in Amazonia: Indigenous and folk strategies}, series = {Advances in economic botany no. 7}, year = {1989}, month = {1989}, pages = {223-237}, publisher = {New York Botanical Garden}, organization = {New York Botanical Garden}, address = {Bronx, NY}, abstract = {

Many Amazonian peoples have a profound effect on rain forest structure and species composition through a process I call succession management. This article describes and examines the extent of such management in a Runa Indian community in Napo Province, Equador. The Runa live in dispersed settlements at low density, below 2 persons/km2. Unlike Amazonian people living in concentrated settlements, they are not under strong pressure to intensify succession management in order to concentrate forest resources. In order to assess the magnitude of such manipulation under low density conditions, I compare succession in two managed and two unmanaged five-year-old forest fallows. I found that management increases the species diversity of trees greater than 10 cm dbh (diameter at breast height). Planted tree crops accounted for between 8\% and 19\% of trees in this size class, and protected secondary species for between 6\% and 16\%. The distribution of many species, however, was not the result of conscious management decisions, although seedling establishment may have been altered by agriculture. It is possible that succession management in this Runa community could be further intensified to increase the proportion of useful planted and protected species. Nevertheless, resources present in Runa managed fallows provide significant amounts of food, construction material, and firewood as well as medicinal plants and other needed household items. (author)

}, keywords = {agroforestry, Amazon, Ecuador, fuelwood, rainforests, resource management, Runa, South America, succession}, isbn = {0-89327-340-6; 978-0-89327-340-8}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/19623957}, author = {Dominique Irvine}, editor = {Darrell Addison Posey and William L. Balée} } @article {484, title = {Brazil{\textquoteright}s jungle blackboard: A test for conservation deep in Amazonas}, volume = {276}, year = {1988}, month = {March 1988}, pages = {65-70}, abstract = {This report discusses an Amazonian conservation project called the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project, which is the brainchild of Tom Lovejoy. This project examines an island biogeography ? the fragmentation of ecosystems into patches that resemble islands that are insulated from the original ecosystem. This project seeks the answers to such questions as "What is the numerical relationship between insularization and doom?" "How big must a rain forest be to remain a rain forest?" "If one hectare of this ecosystem is too small to sustain itself, if ten hectares is also too small, then how much is enough?" and "What is the minimum critical size of a piece of Amazon jungle?"}, keywords = {Amazon, Brazil, ecosystem, ecosystem decay, fauna, faunal collapse, jungle, Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project, rainforests, relaxation to equilibrium, South America}, author = {David Quammen} } @book {372, title = {People of the tropical rain forest}, year = {1988}, month = {1988}, pages = {231}, publisher = {University of California Press}, organization = {University of California Press}, address = {Berkeley, CA}, abstract = {A compilation of writings some of which are incomplete. Beginning with chapter five this is an incomplete book about the specific people of the rain forest. It starts with the Indian National Resource management, Hill People of Northern Thailand, Hunters and Farmers of the African Forest, and people of the floodplain and forest. Not only does this excerpt discuss the Indians of Amazonia, but also discusses the regions. It also discusses the way each of the tribes make their living and how they use the resources around them. The last thing the chapter talks of is the ribere{\~n}os{\textquoteright} lives beyond the village. The excerpt includes many pictures and a few graphs.}, keywords = {Amazon, boats, Brazil, canoes, Central America, fallow, Native Americans, rainforests, slash and burn, smallholders, South America, swiddens, tribal peoples, tropical forests}, isbn = {0-520-06295-7; 0-520-06351-1}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59892476}, editor = {Julie Sloan Denslow and Christine Padoch} } @article {720, title = {Weinstock{\textquoteright}s analogy}, journal = {Human Ecology}, volume = {15}, year = {1987}, month = {March 1987}, pages = {109-111}, abstract = {This article concerns the problem surrounding the comparison of South American and Southeast Asian swidden (slash and burn) systems. Topics discussed include the "apples and oranges" debate as well as root crop/seed crop cultivation, species diversity, and intent of production.}, keywords = {biodiversity, fallow, South America, southeast Asia}, doi = {10.1007/BF00891374}, url = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/4602834}, author = {Stephen Beckerman} } @article {512, title = {Amazon ecology and adaptation}, journal = {Annual Review of Anthropology}, volume = {15}, year = {1986}, month = {October 1986}, pages = {67-97}, abstract = {This document looks at the ecology of Amazonia and relates how humans have adapted to this environment. It details both the primary abiotic (soils and water) and biotic (plants and animals) components of the ecosystem and the cultural systems that have arisen for use of these natural resources (hunting, fishing, gathering, agriculture). Significant changes - past, present and future - to these systems are discussed. Research (biological and anthropological) trends and needs in Amazonia are also discussed. (author)}, keywords = {Amazonia, culture, ecosystem, human ecology, rainforests, South America}, doi = {10.1146/annurev.an.15.100186.000435}, url = {http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.an.15.100186.000435}, author = {L. E. Sponsel} } @inbook {895, title = {Machiguenga Gardens}, booktitle = {Adaptive responses of native Amazonians}, year = {1983}, note = {Chapter 2}, month = {1983}, pages = {29-63}, publisher = {Academic Press}, organization = {Academic Press}, address = {New York}, abstract = {The present description concerns shifting cultivation among the Machiguenga, Native American inhabitants of the tropical rainforest of the Upper Amazon, specifically, a community on the Kompiroshiato River, a tributary of the Urubamba River in the department of Cuzco, Peru. The language is of the Arawakan family, and is closely allied to that of the Amuesha, Campa, and Piro Indians, who also inhabit the montana of Southeastern Peru. As is typical of the montana region, Machiguenga settlements vary from single families to small hamlets of related families located on a stream that provides clean water for household needs, near a river suitable for fishing, and with abundant forest for hunting and from which gardens are cleared. Population density is 0.3 persons/km2. The Machiguenga spend nearly as much time procuring wild foods as they do cultivating their gardens, but it is from their gardens that the vast bulk of their food derives, including a great overproduction of starchy tubers for food security under isolated and vulnerable living conditions. (author)}, keywords = {cacao, coffee, forest dwellers, horticulture, hunter-gatherer, labor, maize, manioc, Native Americans, rainforests, shifting cultivation, slash and burn, soils, South America, weeds, women, yams}, url = {http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8827760}, author = {Allen Johnson}, editor = {Raymond B. Hames and William T. Vickers} }