Traditional knowledge for sustainable forest management and provision of ecosystem services

摘要

Forests, and the people who depend on them, are under enormous pressure worldwide. Deforestation in many parts of the world continues at an alarming pace, the result of agricultural conversion for food and industrial crops such as oil palm, livestockproduction, mining, and energy and industrial infrastructure development. Forest degradation is even more widespread, leading to more gradual losses of biodiversity, forest structure, ecological functioning, and provision of ecosystem services. Biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, water shortages, and environmental conflicts lessen the capacity of forest landscapes to provide the environmental goods and services that underpin food security and other basic human needs. Faced with these problems,and considering their origins, many question whether the science and technology that currently shapes our lives and the management of natural resources is up to the task of building a truly sustainable future. Perhaps, as Albert Einstein suggested: 'Theworld as we have created it, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.'Fortunately, there are other sources of knowledge and wisdom to draw on in our collective quest for sustainable natural resource management. Long before the development of modern forest science and 'scientific' forest management in Europe in the early nineteenth century, local and indigenous communities throughout the world managed forests and associated landscapes in countless ways that sustained their livelihoods and cultures, without jeopardizing the capacity of these ecosystems to provide goods andservices for future generations. The knowledge, innovations, and practices of these communities evolved through various experiences gained over centuries under changing environmental, economic, political, and social conditions. Typically, this traditional knowledge has been transmitted orally from generation to generation, often in the form of stories, songs, folklore, and proverbs, as well as direct training of youth by elders. Traditional knowledge - supported by and embodied in local languages, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, and governance systems - has created a diverse array of natural resource management practices that sustain these communities' food security, health, and cultural traditions (Berkes 2008).