Biocultural diversity

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Biocultural diversity is defined by

linguistic diversity, illustrated in the overlap between the distribution of plant diverse and language diverse zones. Social factors, such as modes of subsistence, have also been found to affect biocultural diversity.[5]

Measuring biocultural diversity

Biocultural diversity can be quantified using QCUs (quantum co-evolution units), and can be monitored through time to quantify

social-ecological systems.[7][8] It can also be applied on a landscape scale to identify critical cultural habitat for Indigenous peoples.[9]

The "quantum coevolution unit" (QCU) was first proposed in 2009 by Kawika B. Winter and Will McClatchey as a unit of measure for coevolution between people and plants, but has applications for quantifying other forms of coevolution.

Linguistic diversity

Cultural traditions are passed down through language, making language an important factor in the existence of biocultural diversity. There has been a decline in the number of languages globally. The

Linguistic Diversity Index has recorded that between 1970 and 2005, the number of languages spoken globally has decreased by 20%. This decline has been especially observed in indigenous languages, with a 60% decline in the Americas, 30% in the Pacific, and 20% in Africa. Currently, there are 7,000 languages being spoken in the world. Half the population speaks only 25 of these languages, the top 5 in order being Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi, and Bengali. The remaining 6975 languages are divided between the other half of the population.[10]
Because languages develop in a given community of speakers as that society adapts to its environment, languages reflect and express the
TEK), an important factor in the conservation of biodiversity.[11]

Declaration of Belem

Awareness about the balance between biological and cultural diversity has been increasing for a few decades. At the first international congress on ethnobiology in 1988, scientists met with indigenous peoples to discuss ways to better manage the use of natural resources and protect vulnerable communities around the world. They developed the Declaration of Belem, named after the city where the congress was held, which outlined eight steps to ensure conservation efforts would be implemented effectively.[12] (This is not to be confused with the 2023 Belem Declaration by the eight Amazon basin countries which tackles deforestation, see 2023 Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization Summit)

Hotspots of biocultural diversity

There are three areas which have been identified as hotspots of biocultural diversity: The Amazon Basin, Central Africa, and Indomalaysia/Malenesia. Hot spots of biocultural diversity can be calculated by averaging a countries biological diversity and cultural diversity. Cultural diversity is scored based on "a country's language diversity, religion diversity, and ethnic group diversity".[13] Recent programs in the Eastern Himalayas have also engaged this concept to promote conservation.[14]

Biocultural conservation

In 2000, Ricardo Rozzi coined the term biocultural conservation to emphasize that “1) conservation biology issues involve [ontologically, epistemologically, and ethically] both humans and other living beings, 2) biological and cultural diversity are inextricably integrated, and 3) social welfare and biocultural conservation go together” (p. 10).[15] Then, Rozzi and collaborators proposed participatory approaches to biocultural conservation, identifying ten principles: 1) interinstitutional cooperation, (2) a participatory approach, (3) an interdisciplinary approach, (4) networking and international cooperation, (5) communication through the media, (6) identification of a flagship species, (7) outdoor formal and informal education, (8) economic sustainability and ecotourism, (9) administrative sustainability, and (10) research and conceptual sustainability for conservation. These principles were effective for establishing the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, Chile, at the southern end of the Americas, involving multiple actors, disciplines, and scales.[16]

Biocultural restoration

Biocultural restoration endeavors to revive the many connections between cultures and the biodiversity they are founded on. This can be done in a larger effort to restore resilience in

Hawaiian renaissance in Hawaii is held up as a global model for biocultural restoration within the scholarly literature on the topic.[19][20]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781446250082
    . Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ^ Maffi, Luisa (2012). Biocultural Diversity Conservation. UK: Earthscan. p. 5.
  3. ^ Winter, Kawika B.; McClatchey, Will (2008). "Quantifying Evolution of Cultural Interactions with Plants: Implications for Managing Diversity for Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems" (PDF). Functional Ecosystems and Communities. 2: 1–10.
  4. doi:10.3390/su10093294
    .
  5. ^ Maffi, Luisa (2012). Biocultural Diversity Conservation. UK: Earthscan. pp. 6–8.
  6. S2CID 26709291
    .
  7. ^ Winter, Kawika B.; McClatchey, Will (2008). "Quantifying Evolution of Cultural Interactions with Plants: Implications for Managing Diversity for Resilience in Social-Ecological Systems". Functional Ecosystems and Communities. 2: 1–10.
  8. doi:10.3390/su10093294
    .
  9. doi:10.5751/ES-11388-250126
    .
  10. ^ Harmon, Loh, David, Jonathan. "Index of Linguistic Diversity". Terralingua: unity in biocultural diversity. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Luisa Maffi, ed. (2001). On Biocultural Diversity. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 1–11.
  12. ^ "Declaration of Belem". International Society of Ethnobiology. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  13. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2005.02.005
    .
  14. PMID 28356115
    .
  15. ^ Ricardo Rozzi. 2001. Introduccion. In Fundamentos de Conservación Biológica: Perspectivas Latinoamericanas, eds. R. Primack, R. Rozzi, P. Feinsinger, R. Dirzo, & F. Massardo), pp. 1-22. Fondo de Cultura Económica: México.
  16. ^ Ricardo Rozzi, Francisca Massardo, Christopher Anderson, Kurt Heidinger, John Silander Jr. 2006. Ten Principles for biocultural conservation at the southern tip of the Americas: The approach of the Omora Ethnobotanical Park. Ecology and Society 11(1): 43. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art43/
  17. doi:10.3390/su10093294
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  18. doi:10.5751/ES-11388-250126
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  19. doi:10.3390/su11010283
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  20. S2CID 197524460
    .

External links
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