IUFRO-LIBRO

Posters
IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference
diameter was carried out at five sites using a fixed plot (50x50 m) approach. This showed that 90% of the volume
can be captured by recording only CWD logs >40 cm in diameter. Based on this approach and known density and
C content of 5 different decay classes, volume, mass, and C in CWD was determined for all 12 sites. To obtain an
accurate estimate of CWD‐C at the landscape scale, it was sufficient to allocate entire individual logs to single decay‐
classes, use one global value for C density instead of decay‐class‐specific values, and the most decayed logs, which
are difficult to measure, could be ignored. However, there were no relationships between plot‐level standing and
downed CWD or standing tree biomass and CWD mass, which could be used to quantify CWD from these proxies.
Key words: coarse woody debris, monitoring, logs, decay‐class, carbon.
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Indigenous knowledge and biodiversity conservation and management:
the case of the Ashanti region in Ghana
Yaovi Sebia Modjinou a *
*Corresponding author: a Breman Asikuma Senior High School, C/O Cynthia Ganyaglo State Protocol Office,
Box M36, State House, Greater Accra, Ghana.
sustainablecooperation@gmail.com
An analysis of a series of biodiversity related areas in West Africa, including ecosystems for water and soil
management, farming, fishing and hunting practices, and the collection of herbal medicines, shows that indigenous
knowledge has the potential to contribute to the conservation of species, genes, and ecosystems. However, in
the contemporary, fast‐changing societies of sub Saharan Africa, indigenous knowledge is less and less applied
and is at risk of disappearance. In spite of important paradigmatic differences between indigenous knowledge
systems and modern science, traditional knowledge is at its best when it is matched with scientific approaches.
Similar approaches are needed and possible for biodiversity conservation. They should focus on questions on
effectiveness, efficiency, and monitoring of situations where indigenous knowledge is brought into biodiversity
conservation and management. Next to a more human ecological approach to biodiversity loss, its management
is looking forother new and effective approaches to reverse the current declining trends. In this context, attention
is given to indigenous knowledge (IK). This is about the knowledge that women, men, families, and communities
have developed themselves for centuries and allowed them to live in their environment for, often, long periods of
time. In a context of contemporarily development, evidence shows that IK can help solve local problems, that it
offers a resource to help grow more and better food, that it aids to maintain healthy lifestyles, and that it provides
opportunities to share wealth and prevent conflicts (Mkapa, 2004). In this paper, the question is addressed whether
and how IK can also contribute to biodiversity conservation and management.
Key words: Biodiversity, Indigenous knowledge, Paradigm, Policy.
Distribution of nTFP’s through different vegetation types in degraded coastal
evergreen forests of southern Chile
Juana Palma‐Martínez a *
*Corresponding author: a Department of Biometry and Environmental Analysis, Faculty of Forest and
Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Germany
palma@biom.uni‐freiburg.de
As a result of anthropogenic alterations, the current vegetation and structure mosaic in the evergreen forests of
the coastal mountain range of the Osorno Province, Chile (40° S 73° W), does not present an attractive timber
capacity, but a great non‐timber potential, so far not evaluated. This could begin the challenge of an integrated