APPLICATION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE FOREST MANAGEMENT: ETHNOBOTANICAL INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF FOREST

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1 APPLICATION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE FOREST MANAGEMENT: ETHNOBOTANICAL INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF FOREST Pei Shengji Professor, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming , China

2 Introduction Forest management has been usefully defined in terms of protection, utilization and distribution of products and the institutional or organizational arrangements by which they are carried out.

3 Forest management systems are localized system which form a basis for decision-making for rural people, therefore traditional knowledge system has global significant to the forest management and sustainable use of forest resources.

4 Scientific Understanding on Traditional Knowledge Traditional knowledge is a cumulative body of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations maintained and developed by people with extended histories of interaction with the national environment. These sophisticated sets of understandings, interpretation and meanings are part of and parcel of a cultural complex that encompasses language, naming and classification systems, resource practices, ritual, spirituality and worldview (ICSU, 2002).

5 Traditional knowledge (TK) in the CBD: knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities deriving from customary uses of biological resources and associated cultural practices and traditions; TK is a body of knowledge and beliefs transmitted through oral traditions and first hand, observations about the local environment, and as a system of self management that governs resources use, and plays important role in sustainable development of the world today.

6 Today sustainable management of forest is a critical issue in world environment and natural resources management, traditional knowledge systems on forest management are disappearing. Understanding, recognition, respecting and protection of tradition knowledge systems is urgently needed to save the forest, the environment and people in this planet.

7 Yunnan as a Region of Rich Biocultural Diversity Yunnan is well-known for its rich biodiversity in China. Geographical variation of Yunnan from tropical lowland (alt. 76m) to alpine (alt. 6674m) create various forest ecosystems

8 1. 17,000 species of plants recorded in Yunnan 2. Rich genetic diversity

9 3. Cultural belief of indigenous people modifies and changes landscape 4. Yunnan presents very high cultural diversity, 25 ethnic groups 5. Many of ethnic groups are forest people 6. Traditional knowledge of forest management is essentially part of their culture, contributing to rural economy and eco-system management

10 7. Impact of rapid economy development and globalization 8. Sustainable use and management of forest resources in not only important for conservation, combating global warming and traditional cultural maintaining, but also critical for rural poverty reduction in particularly ethnic minority communities and marginal societies.

11 Ethnobotanical Indicators of Sustainable Use of Forest Ethnobotany is a scientific field of studying human interactions with plants and its environments, emphasized on traditional use and management of plants in various ecosystem by different cultures through history. Forest ethnobotany has been an essential subject in the field ethnobotany, which contributes to investigation, documentation and quantitative assessment of traditional knowledge and practices in forest use and management by traditional societies in different regions.

12 Ethnobotanical monitoring systems for sustainable use and management of forest in local community on the basis of traditional knowledge. Ethnobotanical indicators of sustainable use and management of forest resources:

13 1 Maintaining traditional knowledge on folk classification, identification, naming of' plants and ecology of plants. 2 Plant diversity for food, fodder, shelter, timber, fuel, energy, medicine, NTFPs, income generation and cultural uses for community livelihoods 3 Genetic diversity in agroecosystems: home garden, farming crops, wild cultivation, agroforestry, intercropping, etc.

14 4 Traditional practices on wild harvesting and its management practices eg. arrangement of use, plant parts, location and seasonal collection, village regulations. 5 Maintaining of traditional cultural and practising in preserving plant diversity and forest, plant worship, taboo, sacred forest, totem, ethic and moral restrictions that are still existing among community. 6 Community participating in forest resource management TK provides the basis for local level decision-making about aspects of day to day life. Community organization, norm and regulations forest related.

15 7 Position of social mechanism for inheritance of traditional knowledge and traditional medicine by oral, demonstration and cultural symbols, and traditional herbal medicine system. 8 Position of traditional agroforestry and tree planting practices, use local tree species for afforestation in the community land area. 9 Position of community institutions on decision making in managing forest and land use, as well as governing of forest and land tenures and development interventions.

16 The ehtnobotanical indicators proposed for monitoring of sustainable use of forest resources be further developed by ethnobotanical quantitative methods and ranking index systems for on-site measuring and ranking to determine degree of sustainability of forest resources.

17 Discussion 1. TK systems are important sustainable development and poverty reduction. 2. TK systems and modern scientific knowledge system (SKS) are not exclusive and conflict with each other, but complementary & cooperative. 3. Respecting, maintaining and protecting of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of Traditional Knowledge.

18 4. Role of ethnobotany in document and evaluate TK for forest management and poverty reduction. 5. Equitable partnerships, stakeholders of forest use in forest resources management and genetic resources conservation.

19 Thank You!