Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

provide conceptual tools useful in the analysis and evaluation of such data, as the
treatment of ethnoecology in this thesis has shown (chapters 6 and 7). In areas such
as population densities and dynamics, ethnoecology does not appear to provide
information of the necessary quality, and here scientific ecology is of value in terms
of the tools, both theoretical and methodological, that it can provide. The
complementary use of ethnoecology in data collection in these particular subject
areas has been shown both in this thesis (chapter 8.3) and in a number of studies
already cited (chapter 1.2.4). In this and diverse other areas of research directed at
the problems associated with resource management, the practical value of an
approach which deeply integrates ecology and ethnoecology is clear.
Perhaps even more important than the practical value of integrating ecology and
ethnoecology is its ideological and political necessity. As I have already touched upon,
conservation, as both practice and ideology, can take many forms, not all of which
will be consistent with the interests of the people living in the area of conservation
interest (chapters 1.2.1 and chapter 3.3.2). The use of ethnoecology ensures a
meaningful and continued, equitable involvement of local populations in conservations
initiatives, and provides a means in which they might employ scientific ideas and
methods without disempowering themselves by surrendering their control, decision-
making power and full comprehension of the process to outside interests. From the
perspective of outsiders with an interest in the conservation of the environment in a
particular area, ethnoecology can provide an important protocol tool. Its use can
reduce the possibility of imposing external priorities and values that might reflect the
outsider’s interests or bias at the expense of local interests. It can also provide an
important mechanism of communication via which novel ideas might be introduced
and evaluated in the local setting. Such would be the ideal method of dialogue
between local communities and conservationists from other backgrounds, allowing
the latter to adjust their ideas and approach to conform to local needs. When
conservation not only conforms and, if necessary, adjusts to local interests, it is most
likely to achieve the support and co-operation of the people who are most directly
affected by it.
In practical terms, the value of the integrative approach can be demonstrated by
a consideration of how one might try to employ ethnoecology in evaluating the
sustainability of hunting. Ethnoecology certainly provides some indication of this, as
people are keenly aware of changes in abundance of the animal species they hunt. In
the cases of several species - iguana (Iguana iguana), tortoises (Geocheleone spp.)
and armadillo (Cabassous unicinctus) - this study provides ethnoecological accounts