Collaboration of science and Indigenous Knowledge for Land management outcomes

A little while ago i wrote on the the interaction between Indigenous knowledge and science. Looked at the value that Indigenous knowledge can play in broader science. In this blog i thought i would look at things from a different perspective, and asking the question the benefits of scientific knowledge to Indigenous people.

I guess in general terms that answer if pretty obvious. Science can and has benefited all types of people in many different ways. Technoligcal advances that have been brought about because of science are easily measured. I guess then the more direct question is how has science methodology benefited Indigenous land, natural and cultural resource management? And the second part to this question is the collaboration between Science and Indigenous knowledge to achieve these land management outcomes. 

Perhaps as a bit of background of my discussion I could use the explanation of Berkes et al, (2000) to lay the platform for my discussion on traditional knowledge and science. Berkes et al explains, The word ‘traditional', for example, places the emphasis on the transmission of knowledge along a cultural continuity, but might ignore the ability of traditional societies to adapt to changing circumstances. Another widely used word, ‘indigenous', is meant to highlight the autochthonous nature of this knowledge, but it might overlook knowledge from populations who are not officially recognized as indigenous. The word ‘local' can be applied to different geographic contexts, but it lacks specificity. At present, traditional ecological knowledge is interpreted as a cumulative body of knowledge, practices and representations that describes the relationships of living beings with one another and with their physical environment, which evolved by adaptive processes and has been handed down through generations by cultural transmission. So we can see from this statement that there are distinct paradigms, and many sources and scholars capture this thinking. So how does this relate to the question of the benefits of science to Indigenous knowledge and on ground management outcomes. To further outline my argument Mazzocchi explains that, Scientific knowledge has long held a central role and attained a dominant position in our developed societies, but we cannot ignore the fact that other valid knowledge systems exist. The imposition of Western scientific ideas and methods not only causes disruption to existing social and economic relationships, but also might spoil the local knowledge. Allowing science to be the final arbiter of the validity of knowledge, and to establish the threshold beyond which knowledge is not worthy of its name, would create the conditions whereby an astonishing cultural heritage is transformed into a monolithic structure.

My thinking on this was prompted after my last blog on science and Indigenous knowledge. I recall a conversation I had while visiting Sydney Uni many years ago. I was visiting a well known rock art specialist that had done some work in my country, recording and conducting excavation and other studies. During our meeting he introduced me to a number of his Post grad students and we had discussion about their particualr areas of studies. Anyway one of the students told me she was studying gender identification of rock art figures. She asked my thoughts and stated that she would like to visit rock art in my country and conduct an analysis. After the discussion i thought to myself "no way". What use was that to me or to my people, how would that help me manage my cultural heritage. At the time i didn't see the value of it and thought to myself why people had to waste time and effort researching things that I preceived as having now real value to me or my people or help in terms of management.  So I honestly thought at the time that the management of these rock arts where better served with meaningful research that had a direct outcome to management. I didn't feel that my people needed to be told the type of research that we would need to look after our heritage. 

My views have since changed, and i do see the value of research and would not make such a judgement call as hastily.  Again my point was what are we getting when we talk about science and Indigenous knowledge. Or is this a different question all together, one that does not encompass the realm of knowledge but also cultural construct? I guess my main point about this is that approaches to knowledge gathering will always be about the individual need to ask questions. the diversity of questions being asked is a good thing and not a negative thing. I now realise this, as any gathering of thought, knowledge and information on subjects is a good thing. And making a judgement call on its usefulness is a discussion that is best held with measured outcomes to improve the knowledge base. 

Anyway, what i wanted to cover within this blog it to look at collaboration between Indigenous people and science, some of the examples and results. Either successfully or with limited meaningful outcomes. So what are the examples of science and Indigenous knowledge have been brought together and real collaboration has occurred. There are probably a number of Cultural heritage/archaeology projects that can be mentioned, but the issue i have with naming these is that i believe it still come from a situation where scientific thinking is the dominant paradigm. 

One of best examples i can outline is that Savanna Burning/Carbon Farming Initiave in the north of Australia.  The fire abatement projects seek to increase the proportion of controlled early dry season fires to create fire breaks and patchy mosaics of burnt and unburnt country to minimise destructive late dry season wildfires. Indigenous land managers together with scientists have developed effective on-ground measuring and accounting methods to determine the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere and calculate the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the Savanna Burning Methodology. from Looking after country our way (NAILSMA 2014). 

Turtle and dugong are high profile species that have garnered much attention in terms of research and also in terms of funding for management  Indigenous people across north Australia share many similar concerns and aspirations with regard to dugong and marine turtle management, despite the vastness of the region, the diversity of species and of coastal and oceanic habitats and differences in cultural and historical backgrounds. These include:

• the importance of Indigenous Knowledge and customary practice as the basis for sustainable management plans; 
• the need to build the capacity of Indigenous Land and Sea Management organisations and ranger programs to engage in contemporary management and research; 
• a lack of information including data on population sizes and distribution; 
• improved working relationships and partnerships among TOs, researchers, government and industry;
• stronger linkages between coastal Indigenous communities responsible for dugong and marine turtles; and
• improved public understanding of the many threats to dugong and marine turtles, and of the rights, roles, responsibilities and activities of Indigenous Australians in managing dugong and marine turtle.

The NAILSMA DMTP started in 2005 and is funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust, with significant contributions from the project partners Kimberley Land Council, Northern Land Council, Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation and the Torres Strait Regional Authority. Technical and scientific advice is provided by the Technical Reference Group (about 24 members), which consists of researchers, government, non-government organisations and industry representatives. (NAILSMA 2014). 

These are key developments as the traditional harvest of species such as turtle and dugong are often emotive issues that run regularly in the media. There has been a concerted effort in resent years from those within the conservation indutstry to point the focus of what they term "illegal hunting" of these species. There is now been a clear political spotlight being shone on these issues. The media attention aside there are a number of issues wrong with this approach. 

1. there will never be enough enforcement to effectively "stop" or control Illegal take.
2. this enforcement approach won't really work anyway as it will also put offside those who may agree that there is an over harvest issue. 
3. without collaboration and control by community lead and based management mechanism we are left with the position of No1. 

I want to now talk about relationships and how these can assist building on positive research outcomes that are collaborative. The science has outlined why many of the protected areas that we have in Australia are special. In some cases endemic flora and fauna highlight our protect areas as oasis's of biodiversity and bounty of research opportunities. Sadly it is these areas that there is a distinct lack of opportunities for Aboriginal people and science to work together. I'm not saying there is nothing but comparatively, it is relatively small and certainly not as widely published as could be. 

One of the growing aspect of the national reserve system is the nature of Indigenous protected Area, or IPA's. We are starting to see the movement from land management lead by Indigenous groups. Places such as Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation have been collaborating and growing a field of datasets in the areas of marine management. Particularly, turtle and dugong, ghostnets within the gulf of Carpentaria region. A quick internet scan will show the range of their activities and collaborations. Dhimurru is perhaps the more established of Indigenous land management services, but there are others across the north of Australia that can demonstrate some exciting examples of land management collaboration projects. As we seethe Indigenous Estate grow across the north of Australia, so to will the growth aspirations to look after country grow. Grow from aspirations to unground management outcomes. collaboration between parties will also grow as a result. We are seeing examples outside the domain of iconic species For example the Through the support of the Australian Bird Environment Foundation, BirdLife Australia is offering a limited number of grants to assist Indigenous groups to improve their capacity to study and protect Australian birds". 

Through NAILSMA again and a project to develop tools that support scientifically robust, community-based biodiversity monitoring programs for Indigenous land and sea managers. The project comprises three case studies where NAILSMA, researchers, and Indigenous rangers and communities are collaborating closely to develop new biodiversity monitoring tools and methods. This is being rolled out in communities in Northern Territory. 

I also quickly want to talk about another growing land management relationship and it is with philanthropic organisation such as Bush Heritage that are purchasing lands and develop sound working relationships with Indigenous communities for the management of these lands. This is somewhat exciting and the potential outcomes for collaborating brings a whole new dimension to partnerships. 

This is something that i would like to cover more in a further blog. the types of relationships that are developing and the results of these relationships. 

Again thank for dropping by and reading my blogs and please feel free to comment. My aim is to add more to this discussion and keep it going. or to follow me on twitter at 

Barry J Hunter

@BarryJHunter1

References

Berkes F, Colding J, Folke C (2000) Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecol Appl 10: 1251–1262

Mazzocchi, Fulvio May 2006 Western science and traditional knowledge: Despite their variations, different forms of knowledge can learn from each other. In EMBO Rep. May 2006; 7(5): 463–466. 

Source: North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance

found at http://www.nailsma.org.au/hub/programs/carbon-project

doi:  10.1038/sj.embor.7400693 PMCID: PMC1479546 Science and Society

NAILSMA E:News Friday 16th 2014 Grant available for Indigenous groups interested in bird research and conservation

NAILSMA E"News thurs May 1 2014