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

analytical problem if it is to be of the greatest possible practical value is
acknowledged.
The ethnoecological data set was evaluated in chapter seven, in which it was
compared with the scientific literature for each of twelve animal species in turn. A
very high degree of qualitative agreement among the results was obtained. Specific
food lists overlapped to a high degree at the family level in particular, and in many
cases at the generic level too, though the level of agreement in the latter case varied
considerably depending on the completeness and the geographical proximity of the
ecological studies being used for comparison. Species food lists were for most
species far shorter than those recorded in the most complete ecological studies.
Reasons for this were suggested, and a variety of methodological improvements
proposed that would improve the quality of the ethnoecological data set. While the
discipline of ethnoecology is still developing its methodology, its utility as a means for
providing detailed and accurate information about many aspects of the local ecology
has been demonstrated.
Chapter eight was concerned with practical applications of ethnoecology in
several different contexts. A consideration of current applications in subsistence
supported the idea that ethnoecological knowledge is of adaptive value in increasing
the effective availability of a number of wild resources to human consumers.
Ethnoecological data on the diets of six species of hunted animal was combined with
data on human interactions with their food plants to generate a set of specific
testable hypotheses concerning the ecological consequences of human use of the
forest. Finally, the transfer of the tracking and identification skills of Wapishana
hunters to the collection of data on forest ecology in a formal setting was reported.
Overall, this chapter supported and extended previous suggestions concerning the
nature of the relationship between ethnoecology and formal scientific research. It
advanced the case for a profound, ongoing and dialectical relationship between the
two, which would be to the benefit of both biological conservationists seeking to
study the ecology of an area and indigenous communities seeking to incorporate
methods based upon the biological sciences into the local repertoire of skills and
knowledge.
Finally, in chapter nine, I considered several research questions raised in the first
chapter in the light of the findings of this study. The answer to each, more or less,
was a qualified yes, the implications of which are discussed in the next section.