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The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

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5 LOCAL EXPRESSIONS OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE<br />

Drawing on a wide scale <strong>of</strong> framing <strong>context</strong>s, the following sections move to the focal<br />

point <strong>of</strong> the study and document a selected range <strong>of</strong> indigenous knowledge expressions.<br />

<strong>The</strong> local <strong>context</strong> is understood in the sense <strong>of</strong> a universal frame in which<br />

knowledge matters and is formed by phenomena that are physically and spiritually in<br />

the world. <strong>The</strong> chapter highlights the research findings <strong>of</strong> the fieldwork undertaken in<br />

the area surrounding Laguna Lachuá National Park. It follows an analytic scheme that<br />

conceptualises knowledge as a blend <strong>of</strong> empirical and symbolic domains <strong>of</strong> customary<br />

practices articulated in everyday actions and thoughts. As previously outlined, local<br />

knowledge, particularly pertaining to the field <strong>of</strong> natural resource management, is expressed<br />

in multiple ways, but first <strong>of</strong> all in relation to subsistence patterns. Accordingly,<br />

the first part <strong>of</strong> the chapter exemplifies modes <strong>of</strong> adaptation to the specific<br />

landscape features and conditions <strong>of</strong> the lowland environment. Revealing the highly<br />

practical nature <strong>of</strong> land use systems that have an impact on agri<strong>cultural</strong> and forest<br />

<strong>biodiversity</strong> it concentrates on the diversity <strong>of</strong> both domesticated and nondomesticated<br />

plant species used by the farmers. Building on this tangible dimension,<br />

which is essentially based on a rather descriptive approach with a focus on the materiality<br />

<strong>of</strong> place, the second part turns towards the more subtle unseen dimension <strong>of</strong> human-nature<br />

interaction and highlights social mechanism that lie behind customary<br />

practices. It interprets the meaning <strong>of</strong> place and follows the question <strong>of</strong> how nature is<br />

perceived through a screen <strong>of</strong> images and beliefs. Even though these differentiated<br />

dimensions represent distinct realms, they are not to be considered separate phenomena<br />

but rather as interwoven extensions <strong>of</strong> the overall <strong>cultural</strong> landscape. Succeeding<br />

the convergence <strong>of</strong> knowledge expressions at the nexus <strong>of</strong> the material and the imaginative,<br />

the third part <strong>of</strong> the chapter moves towards the matrix <strong>of</strong> socio-historical and

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