March 2021
Indigenous peoples and local communities are increasingly recognized for the importance of their contribution to global biodiversity knowledge. But is indigenous & local knowledge (ILK) (or, traditional ecological knowledge - TEK) vetted, in a parallel to peer review's vetting of scientific knowledge? And how does ILK add to global biodiversity knowledge, if it is typically very localized?
Zsolt Molnár helps me to explore these questions. Zsolt is a senior researcher and head of the research group on Traditional Ecological Knowledge at the Centre For Ecological Research in Hungary.
Links to resources:
Inviting ecologists to delve deeper into traditional ecological knowledge - Newly-published article by Zsolt and a colleague in the journal, Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
Ethnoecology - The best medicine against allergy? - A personal reflection by Zsolt on his first field experiences with ethnobiology, published as an article in the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine.
Knowledge co-production with traditional herders on cattle grazing behaviour for better management of species-rich grasslands - Recent article that Zsolt wrote with scientist and herder co-authors in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
Working with Indigenous, local and scientific knowledge in assessments of nature and nature’s linkages with people - Recent article in the journal Current Opinions in Environmental Sustainability.
IPBES Regional Assessment for Europe & Central Asia - Regional assessment of biodiversity & ecosystem services by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services, in which Zsolt was a lead author.
IPBES Global Assessment - Global assessment of biodiversity & ecosystem services by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services, in which Zsolt was a coordinating lead author.
Giant Earthworms of the Karoo - Web article about the giant South African earthworm, the longest earthworm species in the world - at up to 6.7m according to the Guinness World Records.
Integration or co-optation? Traditional knowledge and science in the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee - 2007 article in Environmental Conservation that raises questions about the potential for meaningful integration between science and TEK in environmental impact assessment.