Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
BOX 18.2
What Is Traditional Ecological Knowledge?
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) refers to the knowledge, practices, and be-
liefs about the relationship of living beings to one another and to the physical envi-
ronment that are held by peoples in relatively nontechnological societies with a
direct dependence on local resources (Berkes 1993). Traditional ecological knowl-
edge exists around the world, independent of ethnicity. It is born of long intimacy
and attentiveness to a homeland and can arise wherever people are materially and
spiritually integrated with their landscape (Kimmerer 2000). Traditional ecological
knowledge is a form of rational and reliable information developed through genera-
tions of intimate contact by Native peoples with their lands (Mauro and Hardison
2000). The United Nations Environment Programme (1998) has recognized TEK
as having equal status with scientific knowledge, and Vine DeLoria Jr. (1995)
termed TEK the “intellectual twin to science.” This long intellectual tradition exists
in parallel to Western science's scientific ecological knowledge (SEK), yet it has
been historically marginalized by the scientific community (Salmon 1996).
Traditional ecological knowledge has much in common with SEK, which is not
surprising since both traditions derive from the same source—systematic observa-
tions of nature. Both knowledge systems yield detailed empirical information about
natural phenomena and relationships among ecosystem components. Both SEK
and TEK have predictive power, and in both intellectual traditions, observations are
interpreted within a particular cultural context.
Traditional ecological knowledge encompasses a wide range of biological infor-
mation and has significant overlap with the content of a mainstream course in ecol-
ogy or conservation biology. The scope of TEK documented by scientists includes
detailed empirical knowledge of population biology, resource assessment and moni-
toring, successional dynamics, patterns of fluctuation in climate and resources, spe-
cies interactions, ethnotaxonomy, sustainable harvesting, adaptivemanagement, and
manipulation of disturbance regimes (Berkes 2008). Case histories of the utility of
TEK in conservation biology span a range of biomes from the tundra to the tropical
rainforest (Williams and Baines 1993; Berkes, Folke, and Gadgil 1995; Fernandez-
Gimenez 2000; Gadgil, Seshagiri Rao, Utkarsh, Pramod, and Chhatre 2000).
However, TEK differs from SEK in a number of important ways. Traditional eco-
logical knowledge observations tend to be qualitative, and create a diachronic data-
base (i.e., a record of observations from a single locale over a long time period). In
TEK, the observers tend to be the resource users themselves (e.g., hunters, fishers,
and gatherers) whose harvesting success is inextricably linked to the quality and reli-
ability of their ecological observations. In contrast, scientific observations made by a
small group of professionals tend to be quantitative and often represent synchronic
data or simultaneous observations from a wide range of sites and frequently lack the
long-term perspective of TEK. Additional differences between SEK and TEK are
described in Berkes (1993).
Moreover, SEK is conducted in an academic culture where nature is viewed
objectively, and the data collected are “value-free.” In this aspect, TEK diverges
