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Commentary
Science Must Embrace Traditional and Indigenous
Knowledge to Solve Our Biodiversity Crisis
Edwin Ogar,1 Gretta Pecl,2,3,* and Tero Mustonen4,5
1Ekuri community, 6 Abasi Ita Street, off 138 MCC Road, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
2Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
3Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
4University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistokatu 2, PO Box 111, Joensuu 80101, Finland
5Snowchange Cooperative, Finland, Havukkavaarantie 29, Lehtoi 81235, Finland

*Correspondence: [email protected]
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.006

Traditional and Indigenous knowledge has successfully preserved and restored biodiversity across the
globe. However, its recognition as being as equally valid as Western science as a way of knowing remains
lacking. If we are to preserve global biodiversity and rewild key habitats, science and Indigenous knowledge
must work in partnership while also being restitutive and rights based.

The nexus of climate change, biodiversity the presence on traditional homelands. changes. By bringing the Vainosjoki River
loss, and their associated socio-ecolog- This rich world of Indigenous wisdom back into health and allowing trout, gray-
ical shifts positions us at a critical cross- and traditional knowledge exemplifies an ling, and other cold-dependent fish to
roads in time. It is clearly too late to pre- often-hidden world that still exists across have access to habitats and spawning
vent global-scale ecosystem change.1 the planet and provides a basis for the areas to choose from, they have created
Approximately one million of Earth’s spe- well-being and livelihoods of millions of and put in place safe havens with the
cies face extinction risk,2 and over 80% of people in communities deeply anchored use of Sámi Indigenous knowledge.7
the ecological processes that underpin by their cultures and languages.4 Through community-led self-reflection,
ecosystem functioning and the associ- However, despite the fact that nature is the Skolt Sámi have been able to choose
ated support services to people are overall better preserved within areas a regional functional approach to
already affected by climate change.3 The controlled by Indigenous Peoples,5 West- restoring habitats—that were degraded
global climate-driven redistribution of ern science seems to more often than not by human actions in the past—for the re-
species, rapidly warming Arctic, acidi- overlook such successes. Yet clearly, in silience, food security, and survival of
fying oceans, and many other impacts order to survive the present century, we both humans and non-humans in the
both on marine and terrestrial ecosystems need to embrace Indigenous knowledge, present.
point to a future full of uncertainties. The be intimately guided and led by the knowl- In addition to restoration of damaged
unavoidable reality is that new solutions edge holders, and where appropriate, places, equally important are the pre-
are needed if we are to survive the major consider it alongside the best scientific served socio-ecological systems and pla-
changes under way. understanding of priorities needed to pre- ces that are still safe havens. We know
However, humans have survived vent ecosystem collapse. Respecting and that 80% of the world’s remaining biodi-
through multiple ice ages and planetary embracing Indigenous rights and knowl- versity is located in the Indigenous home-
transformations before—largely as a edge will help us plot a brighter course lands around the world.8 In many cases,
function of Indigenous wisdom and tradi- for the future. these sites so critical for biodiversity are
tional knowledge. Traditional and Indige- also valuable carbon sinks. For example,
nous knowledge has informed human Indigenous Knowledge, Resurgent the Ekuri community in the Cross River
societies for hundreds of thousands of Indigenous and traditional societies are State of Nigeria owns the famous Ekuri
years and is embedded and embodied in already, much in their own capacity,6 on community forest. It has been involved in
cultures and communities around the a trajectory of rebuilding their societies, formal community forestry since 1982
world. Such knowledge is often defined cultures, land uses, and ways of being af- and has had remarkable successes as a
as deep, complex ways of awareness ter centuries of colonial rule and destruc- flagship community. This area, totaling
and co-existence with natural ecosys- tion. Indigenous Peoples have repeatedly 33,600 ha, is the largest and by many
tems and is built and adapted over long shown how valuable their knowledge and measures the best communally managed
periods of time. Indigenous knowledge is how successful their management of so- forest in West Africa. In the Ekuri forest,
also very much about the present, rooted cio-ecological systems can be. In the Eu- harvesting timber for commercial pur-
in the wisdom of the past—it supports ropean Arctic, the Skolt Sámi have been poses is not allowed, and only harvesting
modes of sustainable living in a given able to adapt to address rapidly progress- for domestic uses (for example, building a
place and manifests as oral histories, ma- ing climate change through restoration of house or furniture) is supported. Any har-
terial and spiritual culture, art, songs, and rivers previously damaged by man-made vesting of timber is based on an agreed

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Commentary

management strategy with an inventory partnership. In northeastern Australia, ical analysis how research actions
and standard guidelines, and the pro- the East Trinity Wetland, a former acidic frequently service colonial power and in-
ceeds generated are used for the benefit sugarcane plantation, has been nurtured terests and often work against the wishes
of everyone in the community, such as back to life by the Indigenous Land and and well-being of Indigenous and tradi-
for roads, health centers, farming inputs, Sea Country Rangers of Djunbunti, who tional communities.
and education. To aid the speedy regen- worked with government biologists and Another important approach was pio-
eration of the forest, farming is permitted ecologists to address the acidity.10 In neered by Justice Thomas Berger in
only in approved farming zones, and no Tasmania, warming waters and intrusions the 1970s when he was investigating as-
hunting of endangered wildlife species of spiny sea urchins in large numbers pects of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline
(particularly those that disperse seeds) is have led to a loss of 95% of the giant development in the Northwest Territories
allowed. Water pollution of any kind by kelp forests.11 The loss of the kelp forests of Canada. Justice Berger transformed
any member of the community is banned. places a cultural keystone species at community research in Canada by sim-
However, these community-managed great risk—the rainbow mariner shells, ply listening (and then acting on what
areas are often threatened by outside in- icons of Tasmanian Aboriginal identity was said)—he listened to the Indigenous
terests. The Ekuri community forest is and representing women’s governance Peoples in their home areas, no matter
actively under threat from a proposed of sea country.12 Scientists and Indige- how remote, in ways that they them-
‘‘superhighway’’ that is slated to destroy nous Peoples are working together to try selves expressed. Subsequently, dozens
large tracts of the forest itself. At the and restore the kelp forests by using the of Indigenous-minded and -focused
same time, illegal farming and illegal and hopefully more resilient 5% of kelps that research actions have improved on this
unsustainable forestry are chipping away are still standing, providing hope for the legacy in the Arctic.
at the forest. To ensure its continued pro- mariner shells and for all the species Reflecting as an Arctic scholar, author
tection, the Ekuri community plans to ac- dependent upon these underwater for- T.M. believes that the past 20 years of
quire status as a community conserved ests. These are ‘‘bright spots’’ laying the conducting climate-change research
area, which will integrate the Ekuri com- foundations for a global roadmap building have brought forward the immediate
munity forest into the network of sub-na- on equity, interspecies respect, rewilding, need for the Kawerak advice and recom-
tional, national, and global protected and the restoration of ‘‘lost lands’’ for sur- mendations to prioritize research that
areas. Proper recognition and protection vival and resurgent communities. How- matters to the people who used to be tar-
of such Indigenous community lands ever, the questions of land rights and res- gets of colonial actions. Although science
can play an important role in preserving titutive actions for traditional and rhetoric has paid attention to these, it is
these socio-ecological systems, espe- Indigenous Peoples are at the heart of fair to ask how much is actually changing
cially because many officially non-inven- this resurgence—a lack of publicly en- globally in structural terms? Progressive,
toried locations of high biodiversity value forced rights can undermine otherwise critical research often challenges societal
are threatened by extractive uses successful resource management and power, economic models, land rights, and
throughout the world. conservation practices by Indigenous the status quo and legitimacy of struc-
Peoples and local communities.13 tures exploiting natural resources. How-
Working in Partnership Working in genuine collaboration and ever, society has often responded in the
Examples from across several continents partnership across knowledge systems past by acknowledging these findings
and climate zones—the Arctic, North is not always easy, and the authors here with calls for more research while the les-
America, Africa, and Australia—demon- acknowledge many past mistakes, big sons from people such as Justice Berger
strate the success of Indigenous wisdom and small. However, it is certainly and Dr. Smith go unheeded, get buried,
and traditional knowledge in helping to possible, and there are abundant and or get siloed into institutional arrange-
protect and restore biodiversity. When plainly stated guidelines articulating sen- ments rather than being more broadly
combined with the latest scientific ad- sible approaches for Western scientists mainstreamed.
vances in ecological understanding, to consider. Earlier this year, Kawerak, A key component of the challenge in
monitoring, and restoration, such knowl- located in western Alaska, released a let- working across knowledge systems is
edge could offer us a way forward on ter calling for the Indigenization of sci- the complex and often differing percep-
some difficult environmental challenges. ence.14 This Indigenous organization tions of reality. For example, Skolt Sámi
Examples of these partnerships are raised a series of concerns regarding leader Pauliina Feodoroff has expressed
emerging worldwide. After the removal how research, research funding, and how environmental change and climate
of two large hydropower stations, the research prioritization have been done in change are processes affecting more
restoration of the Elwha River in the the past. It highlighted a range of practical than just the landscapes—each change
United States has combined the efforts actions and outlined a constructive plan or loss is physically felt, especially by
of the science community and the Indige- for a re-positioning of research agendas Indigenous women in and through their
nous knowledge of the Lower Elwha so that they are more appropriately inclu- bodies, highlighting the cascading nature
Tribe.9 This has allowed the return of sive toward Indigenous and local commu- of impacts far beyond what is measurable
birds, Pacific salmon, and other species, nities. This includes knowledge sover- by ‘‘standard science methods.’’ Rewild-
exemplifying how system-level change eignty. Much of this is in line with the ing and restoration are not only a technical
for the better can occur when the scienti- writings of Maori scholar Linda Tuhiwai exercise but also a deep, multi-sensory
fic and Indigenous communities work in Smith,15 who demonstrated through crit- (re-)engagement with landscapes. Many

One Earth 3, August 21, 2020 163

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Commentary

Indigenous communities communicate Ecosystem Restoration,’’ heralding hope 2. Dı́az, S., Settele, J., Brondı́zio, E.S., Ngo, H.T.,
Agard, J., Arneth, A., Balvanera, P., Brauman,
with multi-dimensionally aware environ- for renewed global action. Such a road- K.A., Butchart, S.H.M., Chan, K.M.A., et al.
ments and non-human beings, map is urgently needed and should pre- (2019). Pervasive human-driven decline of life
embodying the concept that nature is an serve entire habitats where feasible by on Earth points to the need for transformative
change. Science 366, eaax3100.
aware agency unto herself to which hu- initiating landscape-level rewilding pro-
3. Scheffers, B.R., De Meester, L., Bridge,
mans are intimately linked. In the past, cesses where habitats have the potential T.C.L., Hoffmann, A.A., Pandolfi, J.M.,
the colonial and mainstream research to recover. However, a global restoration Corlett, R.T., Butchart, S.H.M., Pearce-
community, with the exception of some and rewilding roadmap must be guided Kelly, P., Kovacs, K.M., Dudgeon, D., et al.
(2016). The broad footprint of climate
individuals and specialized paradigms, by both Indigenous knowledge and West- change from genes to biomes to people.
appears to have found such insights ern science. Moreover, Indigenous knowl- Science 354, aaf7671.
rather unconvincing and mostly anec- edge must be at the core of discussions 4. Frainer, A., Mustonen, T., Hugu, S., Andreeva,
T., Arttijeff, I.-S., Arttijeff, E.-M., et al. (2020).
dotal. Only now is environmental science and planning and not at the periphery. Opinion: human cultural and linguistic diver-
more broadly beginning, very tenuously, The roadmap has to be designed to sities as pillars of biodiversity. Proc. Natl.
to grasp these ideas. The view of planet include Indigenous- and community-gov- Acad. Sci. USA, In press.
Earth as a living entity, so often shared erned approaches as a foundation to 5. Garnett, S.T., Burgess, N.D., Fa, J.E.,
Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Molnár, Z.,
by Indigenous communities, is very avoid the past mistakes of top-down con- Robinson, C.J., Watson, J.E.M., Zander,
different from that derived from our servation. As we can see from the Ekuri in K.K., Austin, B., Brondizio, E.S., et al. (2018).
A spatial overview of the global importance of
shared global understanding based only Africa, restitutive land rights can be Indigenous lands for conservation. Nat.
on science. Coming to terms with this better achieved with co-design and co- Sustain. 1, 369–374.
could have rather significant conse- implementation of conserved areas, and 6. Huntington, H.P., Begossi, A., Fox Gearheard,
quences for the future of environmental as seen in the Arctic Vainosjoki River S., Kersey, B., Loring, P.A., Mustonen, T.,
Paudel, P.K., Silvano, R.A.M., and Vave, R.
science. case, rewilding can be a powerful (2017). How small communities respond to
Paradoxically, a challenge that can vehicle for the realization of absent rights environmental change: patterns from tropical
to polar ecosystems. Ecol. Soc. 22, 9.
emerge from successful Indigenous- and the lack of opportunities for local
7. Brattland, C., and Mustonen, T. (2018). How
research partnerships is the ‘‘gate- communities. traditional knowledge comes to matter in
keeper’’ problem. Those such as Justice We know now, from both Indigenous Atlantic salmon governance in Norway and
Berger, often progressive scholars, and scientific evidence, that a roadmap Finland. Arctic 71, 375–392.
become ‘‘the’’ experts on a people, re- to global restoration is not only possible 8. Sobrevila, C. (2008). The role of Indigenous peo-
ples in biodiversity conservation: the natural but
gion, or issue. The multiple knowledge but also feasible financially and ecologi- often forgotten partners, World Bank working
streams and decentralized, grounded cally.16 We need alternatives to market- paper 44300. http://documents.worldbank.org/
peoples and ways of knowing can be led growth, and we need to access the curated/en/995271468177530126/The-role-of-
indigenous-peoples-in-biodiversity-conserva
drowned out by (often male) gatekeepers huge potential that can be untapped via tion-the-natural-but-often-forgotten-partners.
who can provide, intentionally or other- rewilding—new carbon sinks, new com- 9. Bellmore, J.R., Pess, G.R., Duda, J.J.,
wise, convenient messaging to policy- munity-conserved biodiversity hotspots, O’Connor, J.E., East, A.E., Foley, M.M.,
Wilcox, A.C., Major, J.J., Shafroth, P.B.,
makers, society, and the media. This and enhanced ‘‘green’’ and ‘‘blue’’ well- Morley, S.A., et al. (2019). Conceptualizing
often flattens the complex, multi-dimen- being. Such a roadmap will help solve ecological responses to dam removal: if you
sional realities of Indigenous and tradi- our biodiversity crisis and can also remove it, what’s to come? Bioscience
69, 26–39.
tional communities. In order to address address the urgent need for new sustain-
10. Queensland Government (2015). East Trinity
this, the link between policy and research able approaches to our economies. remediation case study. https://www.qld.gov.
should move away from single ‘‘large so- au/environment/land/management/soil/acid-
sulfate/east-trinity.
lution,’’ one-slogan headlines (e.g., Green
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11. Johnson, C.R., Banks, S.C., Barrett, N.S.,
Growth, New Deal, and Nature Finances) Cazassus, F., Dunstan, P.K., Edgar, G.J.,
and toward the needs that are on the Frusher, S.D., Gardner, C., Haddon, M.,
We acknowledge and pay respect to the Helidoniotis, F., et al. (2011). Climate change
ground. This includes training and traditional owners and custodians of land and cascades: shifts in oceanography, species’
learning from the successes of the past, sea country all around the world and recognize ranges and subtidal marine community dy-
like Justice Berger and Maori Linda their collective wisdom and knowledge. We namics in eastern Tasmania. J. Exp. Mar.
specifically extend our deep gratitude to the Elders Biol. Ecol. 400, 17–32.
Tuhiwai Smith did. Ultimately, we must
and knowledge holders of the Indigenous 12. Pecl, G.T., Ogier, E., Jennings, S., van Putten,
ask—from a position of humbleness, Peoples highlighted throughout this text. This I., Crawford, C., Fogarty, H., Frusher, S.,
awareness, and non-imposition—what manuscript emerged as a result of discussions at Hobday, A.J., Keane, J., Lee, E., et al.
can research do, within the scope it has, http://www.speciesonthemove.com/ and https:// (2019). Autonomous adaptation to climate-
futureseas2030.org/. E.O. is the Chief of the Ekuri driven change in marine biodiversity in
to service and deliver for society, the community. E.O. and T.M. were supported by a global marine hotspot. Ambio 48,
planet, and its people? Snowchange, and G.P. was supported by an 1498–1515.
ARC Future Fellowship. 13. Porter-Bolland, L., Ellis, E.A., Guariguata,
M.R., Ruiz-Mallén, I., Negrete-Yankelevich,
Mapping the Road Forward
S., and Reyes-Garcı́a, V. (2012). Community
We know the old road of ‘‘business as managed forests and forest protected areas:
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