THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

Like we have earlier noted, most of the respondents referred to their local knowledge as the
reason as to why they had come to learn about the protection of the local trees and animal
species. In one of the focus group discussions, the discussants pointed out that cutting a
certain tree species that house some of their ancestral gods had led to drought and poor yields
in their community. 637 Some of the discussants referred to the cutting down of particular tree
species as invoking curses and undue suffering for the same offence. In all, it was established
that all these local perceptions helped to build up a strong base for local knowledge and
ultimately strengthened by customary law. This in the process has shaped future biological
conservation, especially in areas where there is little formal/biological education. The strict
customary law which forbids the non-members from reaching some of the sacred places had
helped to keep large tracts of the forest biodiversity under community guardianship, courtesy
of customary law especially among the Maragori, Tiriki and the Marama.
The Transfer of local and biological Knowledge
In the study, it was imperative to find out how local knowledge that is known to be the
cornerstone of understanding local biodiversity perceptions is transferred. It was also
important to establish how such knowledge is managed for the conservation of forest
biodiversity in Kakamega. To attain this, respondents were for instance asked who they
considered to be the custodians of local biodiversity knowledge in the area. In response to
this, the study found out that village chiefs, traditional priests, Village elders, parents and
Tribal chiefs were the key custodians of local knowledge. However, before we delve into
further details we must observe that there is a thin relationship between the structure of
traditional authority and the custodianship of local knowledge. It was also established that the
local Luhya institutions were also central in the transfer of local knowledge be it related to
biodiversity or otherwise. More to that, age was found to be an important aspect in the control
of local knowledge. Old people such as village elders were considered to be the local
encyclopaedias for the society concerning its local institutional norms, belief and values.
Lastly, within the Luhya institutional setting regarding the transfer of local knowledge,
parents were regarded as central since they were the first point of contact when a new
generation of children was born. Similarly, we found out that 28.31% respondents regarded
the village chief, commonly known as the ligulu as the custodian of local knowledge.
In the following table we see who the custodians of local knowledge are.
637 Focus Group Discussion: 22 July 2006
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