Integration of Indigenous and Local Knowledge in Policy and Practice of Nature-Based Solutions in China: Progress and Highlights

Ruizi Yu and Quan Mu ()
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Ruizi Yu: Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Quan Mu: Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100035, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-20

Abstract: China promotes nature-based solutions (NbS) as key approaches to addressing climate change, ecosystem damage, and biodiversity loss. However, indigenous and local knowledge (ILK), which is recognized by international scholars as an essential element of successful NbS, has not been thoroughly studied in the Chinese context. By conducting a comprehensive review of Chinese central governmental policies and semi-structured interviews with typical cases, this study finds diversified sources of ILK and five pathways of ILK integration, including education, supervision, participation, knowledge preservation, and knowledge adoption. An increasing emphasis on community engagement has been driven by central policies, such as ecological civilization, carbon peaking, and carbon neutrality goals. From a practical perspective, consistent core ideas of ILK exist in selected typical Chinese cases and studies in other countries, namely co-existence and reciprocity with nature. While supportive central policies can set the scene, ILK integration could not be realized without local governmental endorsement, context-based implementation, and long-term multi-stakeholder participation. Furthermore, this study also figures out a potential deficiency in terms of realizing effective ILK integration in mainstream and conventional practices, which can be further investigated by future studies.

Keywords: nature-based solutions; indigenous and local knowledge; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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