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New meaning for old knowledge- Reinvigorating Participatory Approaches to Conservation and Sustainable Management of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

2016; Volume: 6; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

2250-3153

Preeti Onkar, Unnikrishnan Payyappallimana,

Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management

People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) documents diverse aspects such as biodiversity and ecosystems services in a location Narwana Village Panchayath, Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, status of folk (traditional/indigenous/local) knowledge, their applications, history, ongoing changes and forces driving changes in biodiversity resources, gainers and losers in these processes and people’s perceptions of how these resources should be managed. A number of PBRs have been prepared in different parts of India beginning 1995 through initiatives of NGOs and educational institutions working with local communities and village councils and other administrative bodies, like State Biodiversity Board and Notational Biodiversity Authority. These attempts have been motivated by a desire to promote decentralized systems of management of natural resources and to create the basis to equitable sharing of benefits of commercial utilization of folk knowledge of uses of biodiversity. The documents bring together important locality specific information on biodiversity resources and ecological processes affecting them. They lead to recognition of conservation oriented local practices such as for instance, protection of sacred groves. They help to mobilize local communities to prudently manage local biodiversity resources in ways that would promote equitable Benefit Sharing and social justice. There are many encouraging signs globally, as well as within India, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the subsequent National Biodiversity Act of 2002 intends to promote decentralized democratic systems of governance and institutions of co- management of natural resources incorporating aspects like PBR will have an important role to play in promoting conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits of biodiversity resources in the coming decades. It is however important to recognize that not all folk knowledge may be valid, not all folk practices wise, and it is important to create systems of careful assessment of the knowledge practices. Whereas it is important to document knowledge in PBRs, it is equally important to engage with this knowledge as well as the community knowledge holders for these documentations to be effective in management of our bio-cultural diversity and ecosystems.