Indigenous practices and animal conservation

Indigenous communities’ “knowledge of the natural world — the land, plants, animals, seasons and cycles of nature — has been a central tenet of their lives and worldviews since the dawn of time. Their understanding of the natural world is complex and comprehensive. The natural world, now commonly referred to as the ‘environment,’ is not viewed as a separate entity but one, interconnected aspect of the whole. This interconnectedness is a moral responsibility to care for, live in harmony with, and respect the natural world” (Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., 2016).

Indigenous communities have traditionally respected “the natural lifecycles of the animals they shared the Earth with” and did not hunt, fish and collect more than they needed to meet the needs of the community. That meant they did not overharvest and deplete stocks. In addition, they did not waste or discard any part of any living that they ate. They ate not only the flesh but also the blood and bones of the animals they hunted or fished (Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., 2016).

Source: Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. (2016, 4 April). What is the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and animals. https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-is-the-relationship-between-indigenous-peoples-and-animals

Stone bunding by tribal communities in Koraput District, Odisha, India

Farming on hilly slopes is not an easy activity, but the tribal community in Koraput District in Odisha has been using stone bunds to improve soil quality for many generations. Water moving down a hill at high speed removes the top soil, thereby reducing soil fertility. The tribal people build small stone embankments — using stones broken off from large rocks — along the agricultural field boundary and sometimes across the slopes to reduce both soil erosion and siltation. The embankments also prevent animals from entering the fields and feeding on young plant shoots. The tribal community constructs a suitable outlet to remove the excess water after periods of rainfall. Water is collected in the spaces between small stones, which form the embankment, and an outlet is constructed so that water seeps through and moves downhill to lower parts of the agricultural land. The soil thereby remains wet — an ideal situation for planting and growing crops. The embankments hold water for extended periods, so as water seeps through, the lower parts of the hills remain wet long after the rainy season is over.

Adapted from Satapathy, M., & Bisoi, S. (2021). Indigenous knowledge and practices on conservation of natural resources by tribal communities of Koraput District, Odisha, India. Journal of Environment and Ecology 39 (1(A)), 216-229. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353464262_Indigenous_Knowledge_and_Practices_on_Conservation_of_Natural_Resources_by_Tribal_Communities_of_Koraput_District_Odisha_India

The Amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world — and it plays a key role in our collective survival. It is home to an extraordinary biodiversity, regulates the climate, absorbs carbon and helps purify water. Watch the video Columbia’s Amazon: A Story of Hope, by the United Nations Environment Programme, to learn about the work being done in Colombia to protect this vital habitat and how Indigenous practices like planting native species of trees and using native seeds for food can help conservation efforts.

Licence: YouTube: Open access.

Reflection

Think about how you can conserve the habitat around you. Walk around and observe the environmental situation in the vicinity of your village or household and then write your ideas in your journal. What type of conservation activity could you carry out on a regular basis?

Group activity

Formative assessment 1:

Discuss with a facilitator or village leader what conservation activities your household or village could carry out regularly. For example:

• planting native species
• collecting dung from farm and domestic animals to use as manure in the fields or vegetable gardens
• cleaning up rubbish: separating out items that can be recycled, such as plastics, paper, tin cans, and disposing of non-recyclable rubbish in a responsible manner
• using kitchen scraps — for example, fruit and vegetables peels, egg shells, bones, coffee grounds, etc. — as fertiliser in vegetable and fruit gardens