Integrating indigenous knowledge and culture in sustainable forest management via global environmental policies

Scholastica Akalibey, Petra Hlaváčková, Jiří Schneider, Jitka Fialová, Samuel Darkwah and Albert Ahenkan
Additional contact information
Scholastica Akalibey: Department of Landscape Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Petra Hlaváčková: Department of Forest and Wood Product Economics and Policy, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Jiří Schneider: Department of Environmental Science and Natural Resources, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Jitka Fialová: Department of Landscape Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Samuel Darkwah: Department of Area Studies, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Albert Ahenkan: Department of Public Administration, University of Ghana Business School, Accra, Ghana

Journal of Forest Science, 2024, vol. 70, issue 6, 265-280

Abstract: This research investigates the intricate connection between indigenous knowledge and sustainable forest management, with two main objectives. It seeks to explore and outline indigenous knowledge, elements, and practices that support sustainable forest management (SFM). It aims to uncover the invaluable traditional insights and practices that have helped preserve and ensure the responsible use of forest ecosystems. Also, it investigated global environmental policies that support indigenous knowledge since the inception of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). A narrative review method was employed to review and analyse peer-reviewed contents and reports to deduce ancestral or traditional wisdom, knowledge, practices, and beliefs from existing studies. The paper extracted data from existing literature from scholarly peer-reviewed journals. It aims to provide useful information for policy-makers, forest managers, and indigenous communities, to promote SFM and the sustainable development goals related to a sustainable environment. The study found that indigenous knowledge (IK) which includes ethnobotanical knowledge and plant selection, mixed land use, seed banks, and cultural beliefs such as sacred groves and taboos are some traditional practices, beliefs, and cultural knowledge that support SFM and can be integrated into international and national environmental management policies which the two-eyed seeing framework (TESF) seeks to promote. The framework highlights the potential of implementing IK into SFM. Also, the Akwé: Kon Guidelines, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), are some global environment policies that recognise traditional people and indigenous knowledge since the commencement of the CBD in the nineties. The paper recommends, for a future study, investigating the applicability of the Akwé: Kon Guidelines in international and national projects and programs that impact traditional sacred lands, forests and rivers, and indigenous people. Also, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement need to fully acknowledge the supporting role of indigenous knowledge and people in climate change mitigation and adaptation solutions, especially in Africa, since the majority of the world's population constitutes indigenous people who inhabit healthy standing forests and ecosystems.

Keywords: ecological knowledge; ecosystem services; environmental management; forestry; human well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/20/2024-JFS.html (text/html)
http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/20/2024-JFS.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:70:y:2024:i:6:id:20-2024-jfs

DOI: 10.17221/20/2024-JFS

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Forest Science is currently edited by Mgr. Ilona Procházková

More articles in Journal of Forest Science from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().