sustainable use of biological diversity.pdf - India Environment Portal

Customary sustainable use of biodiversity by indigenous peoples
issue (http://www.forestpeoples.org/documents/
conservation/bases/parks_base.shtml).
8.4 Lack of recognition and respect for the
importance of customary sustainable use for
biodiversity protection
The case studies demonstrated that customary sustainable
management of natural resources is often
ignored in conservation or development policies
and programmes as these do not support or promote
communities’ traditional ecological principles
and knowledge about sustainability and conservation.
Lack of appreciation of customary sustainable
management of natural resources frequently results
in top-down natural resource management and conservation
approaches that exclude and undermine
customary practices. In the long term, this can undermine
the vitality of these systems. In many cases,
the situation is even worse; biodiversity loss is unjustly
(or due to ignorance) blamed on indigenous
peoples and local communities’ activities and therefore
customary use and management are severely restricted
or even eradicated.
In Thailand, the practice of swidden agriculture
by indigenous peoples is depicted as “destructive
to the forest” since water shortages have started to
become a serious problem. Highlanders, however,
observe that they have practiced swidden agriculture
for hundreds of years without the streams running
dry and that water shortages have only started
to become a serious problem after the introduction
of water-thirsty fruit plantations in the lowlands and
new agricultural systems and pine plantations in the
highlands. Under pressure from government policies,
many highlanders have reduced or abandoned
swidden agriculture, and adopted chemically-dependent
cash cropping, which, as the Karen say, is
disturbing the natural environment. Cash crops use
much more water than swidden fields, which had
water-retaining plants such as wild banana. Abandonment
of the swidden method has further led to a
decrease in plant varieties, a decrease in the health of
certain species, and problems of weeds taking over
the paddy fields.
Guyana developed and adopted a National Biodiversity
Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) in 1999. It
does note the need for more research on “traditional
methods” of sustainable use of biological resources,
but does not recognise the contribution of the indigenous
peoples of Guyana to the sustainable use
and conservation of biological resources. Instead,
the existing national policy tends to see indigenous
peoples’ resource use primarily as a potential threat
to biodiversity and the environment.
Mining concession impacting on traditional lands of Kaliña
and lokono in Marowijne, Suriname
In Suriname, the value of traditional knowledge in
biodiversity conservation and management is hardly
taken into account in official circles. On the contrary,
in many official documents and management plans
for the national protected areas, the state announces
strategies to “educate” indigenous and local communities
on conservation issues and sustainable use.
In Cameroon, the Baka’s tradition of sustainable
use and management of the resources has not been
acknowledged when the Boumba-Bek and Nki National
Parks recently gained recognition as “areas of
high natural biodiversity”. In the plan to manage the
national parks, the traditional knowledge and practices
of the Baka are not considered or incorporated.
Unfortunately, rather than seeking to understand the
particularities of the methods used by indigenous
peoples to manage forest resources, the Baka are expelled
from their lands.
8.5 External pressures on traditional lands
Apart from imposed protected areas, all the communities
involved in the case studies are facing other
external pressures that impact on their access and
use of (parts of) the territories, such as mining, logging,
and commercial use. Destruction of areas and/
or reduced access to resources leads to a decline in
customary sustainable use and traditional knowledge.
In Marowijne in Suriname, unsustainable commercial
bauxite mining and logging take place in important
community use areas used for hunting, gathering,
and fishing. As a result of the construction of
roads and the noise of the heavy equipment, as well
© KLIM
33