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

outreach in 1995, links between Iwokrama and its neighbours have strengthened, and
local levels of confidence and interest increased (Scherl 1998: 5-14). The relationship
was institutionalised when twelve mainly Makushi communities within its catchment
area formed the North Rupununi District Development Board. Though its mandate is
broader, a major function of this is to act as a representative organ for these
communities in dealings with Iwokrama.
One of the NRDDB's earliest activities was its participation in the documentation
of local biodiversity use and ethnopharmacological knowledge (Forte et al. 1996a,
1996b), and it has since continued to be actively involved in Iwokrama-related
research activities relevant to its member communities. Iwokrama has continued to
dedicate much attention to its relationship with NRDDB communities, and sponsored
numerous local initiatives related to awareness raising and capacity building (Watkins
et al. 1999: 15-20). The programme's resident wildlife biologist has been engaged in
an extensive and ongoing investigation into local knowledge of forest ecology, and is
now seeking to develop community-driven programmes in wildlife research and
management (Iwokrama 2000). A conference on wildlife management organised by
Iwokrama during the year 2000 numbered Guyanese Amerindians among its speakers
and other participants. Iwokrama has also hosted a predoctoral research programme
concerned with human-forest relationships, involving several NRDDB member villages
(Allan 2002). The need for Iwokrama to extend its outreach activities beyond its
immediate geographical area, and beyond the scope of the NRDDB, has been noted
(Scherl 1998: ix). First steps towards this have been taken, in the form of a workshop
held during 1999 to which representatives of all Rupununi communities were invited
(Iwokrama 1999).
Iwokrama has thus demonstrated a progressive attitude towards local Amerindian
communities, devoting a great deal of time and human resources towards both
political relations with its neighbours and the documentation of various aspects of
indigenous knowledge. Certainly the programme has to be applauded for the creative
and sincere way in which it has addressed these subjects, although I feel that it could
go somewhat further. Research attention to indigenous knowledge appears to be
quite decontextualised, concerned solely with its practical utility within what are
nowadays fairly conventional practices related to the management of the reserve.
While this is probably no bad thing in itself, I feel that the organisation could go
further, and seek to investigate the potential that a broader treatment of indigenous
knowledge, as a set of knowledge and praxis that is embedded in a particular social-
ecological system, might have for its overall management and institutional structure.