Biocultural Diversity - Indigenous Perspectives

Biocultural Diversity: Stewards of Biocultural Diversity in Mexico, Peru and Uganda, also speaking out at the UN in New York Biocultural Diversity: Stewards of Biocultural Diversity in Mexico, Peru and Uganda, also speaking out at the UN in New York.

Biocultural diversity is the total variety of the world’s cultures and natural environments.

Their co-evolution over time has generated local ecological knowledge and practice: a vital reservoir of experience, understanding and skills that help communities to manage their resources now and in the future.

FANTASTIC FIRST COMMUNITY VIDEO

Video Participativo en comunidades indigenas de la Chinantla.
(In Spanish, no subtitles yet)

Click image to see the video

The loss of biocultural diversity impacts the ability of local communities to adapt to global changes. This cultural transformation diminishes alternative ways of viewing the world and reduces the range of potential solutions to common problems confronting humankind.

Biocultural diversity is derived from the myriad ways in which humans have interacted with their environments.

VIDEOS- click on image to see video
Introductions -Chinantec PV trainees	Ethnoecology training, South Africa

Over generations different societies have developed a startling array of methods for managing their natural surroundings, some of which ensure minimal environmental impact and the sustainability of resource use.

Diverse worldviews, philosophies and ethical approaches to life have emerged in tandem with this co-evolution of nature and culture.

VIDEOS- click on image to see video
Community Conserved Area (CCA) Mexico	Biodiversity and local plant resources

VIDEOS- click on image to see video
Land, Resources and Conservation in Buayan	People's Video -Sabah Borneo (part3)

Why does Biocultural diversity matter?

We realise that the loss of biodiversity endangers human and environment health. It is less well known that the decline of cultural and linguistic diversity poses a similar threat to our future.

The environmental knowledge and practice that local communities have developed holds a key to our understanding of ecosystem management and the effective conservation of biodiversity in the future.
Text taken from The Global Diversity Foundation