The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

The global context
ral diversity has been refined by Maffi (2001). In examining the role of language in
human-environment relationships, she discusses global cross-mappings of the world's
biological and linguistic diversity, which indicate remarkable overlaps between these
two different forms of diversity. Accordingly, ten of the twelve so called biological
›mega-diversity‹ countries figure equally among the top twenty-five for endemic languages
(2001: 26). 12
Apart from areas with high numbers of species endemism, indigenous peoples occupy
a wide geographical range varying from the polar regions to the tropical zones in
Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. In these areas of more than 70 countries, indigenous
resource management systems have evolved over time as adaptive responses
to the specific natural conditions of particular local settings (Beltrán 2000: 21). In this
way, ecosystems in regions of particularly high conservation priority have been shaped
by indigenous resource use related to subsistence patterns like agriculture, forest extraction,
hunting and gathering practices. Living in close relation to complex ecosystems,
indigenous communities have developed an understanding of the diverse reciprocal
interactions of such systems. Thus, extensive knowledge related to local environments
has often conserved and even enhanced biodiversity (Laird 2000: 348). As
most indigenous ecological principles are largely attached to experience and prediction
in relation to human subsistence, indigenous peoples living in small-scale cultures
have been better able to maintain long-term, relatively resilient relationships with the
natural environment than people living in larger scale cultures (Bodley 2002: 163).
These principles also include values, norms and beliefs regarding the maintenance of
the »balance of nature«, which imply specific conservation methods and practices, as
noted by Slikkerveer (2000: 174) and lead to the notion that the world's cultural diversity
is part of the broader biodiversity that must be protected (Chatty & Colchester
2002: 15). However, in discussing the widely emphasised ›inextricable link‹ between
biological and cultural diversity, Posey (2000b: 6) admits that not all human impacts
on the environment have had positive effects, as an increasing number of indigenous,
peasant and local communities are abandoning sustainable traditions in favour of destructive
activities. The acknowledgement of the positive links between indigenous
peoples and biodiversity has been increasingly tempered by the recognition that under
certain circumstances (i.e. high population densities, market pressures, unsuitable
technologies, local disorganisation) indigenous resource use practices have depleted or
destroyed valuables resources, often for individual profit (Booth & Kessler 1996: 241). 13
12 Although a discussion of hypotheses concerning the co-evolution of cultures and ecosystems is
not intended here, it is worth noting that the diversity of indigenous languages is undergoing severe
erosion: 2,500 of the 6,000 spoken languages worldwide are considered to be in immediate danger of
extinction (Posey 2000b: 3). According to DeWalt (1994), the cultural diversity of human experience
is being eroded even faster than biological diversity. For details on language diversification, see also
Harré et al. (1999) and Oviedo et al. (2000).
13 Ellen and Harris (2000) warn of an over-idealised view of indigenous peoples. In discussions on
indigenous environmental concerns, anthropologists have been prone to stereotyping and romanticism,
creating a late-twentieth-century version of the ecological ›noble savage‹. This issue will be returned
to in chapter 3.1.3.
23