The Impacts of Traditional Ecological Knowledge towards Indigenous Peoples: A Systematic Literature Review

Jamilah Mohd Salim, Siti Nursyadiq Anuar, Khatijah Omar, Tengku Rozaina Tengku Mohamad and Nur Azura Sanusi ()
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Jamilah Mohd Salim: Institute for Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Siti Nursyadiq Anuar: Institute for Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Khatijah Omar: Institute for Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Tengku Rozaina Tengku Mohamad: Institute for Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia
Nur Azura Sanusi: Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus 21030, Terengganu, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: Indigenous peoples are groups with different cultural and social characteristics that share inherited ties to their homeland and natural resources. They have their own understanding and cultural experience that amounts to traditional ecological knowledge. The aim of this study is to identify the impacts of traditional ecological knowledge on indigenous people. Two main databases, namely Web of Science and Scopus, were used to conduct a systematic literature review. From the findings and analysis, two themes and eleven sub-themes were identified. The first theme is economic activities, including six sub-themes: sources of income, employment opportunities, offering products to vendors or buyers, providing market value, providing low treatment cost, and providing opportunities to develop micro-enterprises. The second theme is health, with five sub-themes: supporting food security, harvesting country food, food or plant benefits, perceived health or medicinal purposes, and livelihoods of the indigenous people. In conclusion, traditional knowledge can play an important role in contributing to the livelihoods of indigenous people. In general, traditional knowledge can help indigenous people to improve their quality of life, especially those who rely on natural resources to survive, by offering secure and supplemented food, for instance, as well as a source of earnings, crucial for food security during hard times. Additionally, traditional knowledge of wild edible and medicinal plants can play a significant role in a community’s capacity to remain resilient and be preserved for future generations.

Keywords: traditional ecological knowledge; indigenous people; economics; health; systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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