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Biocultural Diversity Conservation Projects

We gathered and analyzed 45 projects from all over the world that recognize the fundamental link between local languages, ecological knowledge, cultural practices, and biodiversity, and apply this recognition to the design of integrative biocultural conservation solutions.

Included in our book Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook, these case studies provide “real-world” examples of biocultural diversity that you might explore with your students. Search them by region in the Learning Center Stories directory.

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Recording Traditional Knowledge of Biodiversity for the People’s Biodiversity Register of India

Project Contributor: Yogesh Gokhale The majestic Poda Thurpu cattle, one of the indigenous cattle breeds of…
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Putting Australian Aboriginal Cultural Values on the Map: The Wet Tropics World Heritage Area as a Biocultural Landscape

Project Contributor: Bruce White The project “Mapping Aboriginal Cultural Values in the Wet Tropics World Heritage…
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Local Knowledge and Self-Determination for Conservation: The Case of the Irular of Tamil Nadu, India

Project Contributor: C. Manjula Irular people inhabiting the southern part of India are one of the…
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Mining and Cultural Loss: Assessing and Mitigating Impacts in Papua New Guinea

Project Contributors: Martha Macintyre, Simon Foale Kinami Mountain on Lihir Island, PNG. Credit: Simon Foale Lihir…
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Countering the Loss of Knowledge, Practices, and Species on Flores Island, Indonesia

Project Contributor: Jeanine Pfeiffer with the Tado Community, the Waerebo Community and Elizabeth Gish Agustinus Angkol,…
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Countering Fish Stock Depletion through Traditional Knowledge, Tenure, and Use of Marine Resources in Papua New Guinea

Project Contributors: Martha Macintyre, Simon Foale Fish stocks around Lihir Island in PNG are threatened by…
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Life with Crocodiles: Reintroducing Human-Wildlife Coexistence in the Philippines

Project Contributor: Jan van der Ploeg Young Agta girl spearfishing in the Disulap River Philippine crocodile…
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Integrating Customary Tenure Systems in Marine Protected Areas: A Solomon Islands Example

Project Contributor: Shankar Aswani Men involved in participatory mapping exercise in Roviana, Solomon Islands Credit: Shankar…
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Strengthening Indigenous Cultural Heritage through Capacity Building in Costa Rica

Project Contributors: Hugh Govan with Rigoberto Carrera Ngäbes women. Photo: Eliseo Carpintero/Wikimedia There are eight Indigenous…
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Taboos and Conservation: Traditional Conservation Sites in the Marshall Islands

Project Contributor: Nancy Vander Velde with Jorelik Tibon In previous times, tribal chiefs could designate an…
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Reviving Traditional Seed Exchange and Cultural Knowledge in Rural Costa Rica

Project Contributor: Felipe Montoya Greenheck Pejibaye palm fruit (Bactris gasipaes), a staple of Indigenous Peoples of…
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Reconnecting with Natural and Cultural Heritage: Flora and Fauna of the Marshall Islands

Project Contributor: Nancy Vander Velde with Jorelik Tibon In the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, as…
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Tejedores de Vida: Revitalizing Indigenous Identity and Nature-Based Knowledge in a Muisca Community, Colombia

Project Contributors: Gabriel Nemogá with Carlos Mamanché Carlos Mamanché (left, standing) training the Muisca community's new…
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Teaching and Learning from an Indigenous Perspective: Knowledge and Language Revitalization in Hawaii

Project Contributor: Chad Kälepa Baybayan A consortium of Native Hawaiian schools and education professionals is using…
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Tools for Biocultural Diversity Conservation: Community Mapping of Indigenous Peoples’ Traditional Lands in Venezuela

Project Contributor: Stanford Zent Hotï people drying cane for blowguns Credit: Stanford Zent In 1999, the…
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Protecting Territories and Biodiversity: Indigenous Capacity Building in Ecuador

Project Contributor: Joao de Queiroz A high level of community participation and capacity building in the…
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Promoting Cultural and Biological Diversity: An Educational Program for Rural Communities in Peru

Project Contributor: Jorge Ishizawa with Grimaldo Rengifo Teaching the children in the Upper Amazon region of…
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Talking the Walk in Tanzania: Language as the Missing Ingredient of Biodiversity Conservation?

Project Contributor: Samantha Ross A Women’s Focus Group Discussing Changes in Plant Abundance in Goka, Tanzania.…
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A “Life Plan” for the Park: Culturally Appropriate Management in Brazil’s Xingu Indigenous Park

Project Contributor: Darron Collins Mapping traditional territories in the Xingu Indigenous Park. Credit: Amazon Conservation Team…
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Promoting Traditional Medicine, Indigenous Cultural Research, and African Spirituality in Uganda

Project Contributor: Sekagya Yahaya Hill Traditional Healing Centre, Uganda Credit: THETA News The traditional African culture…
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Ka'apor, Brazil

Protection of an Indigenous Reserve: The Ka’apor People of Amazonian Brazil

Project Contributor: William Balée Ka'apor, Brazil. Photo: Darcy Ribeiro/Wikimedia The Ka’apor emerged as a people with…
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Working with Traditional Knowledge in Land Use Planning: Gwich’in Place Names, Land Uses, and Heritage Sites in the Northern Territories of Canada

Project Contributor: Ingrid Kritsch Hills at Tl’oondih where summer and winter trails led to traditional Gwich’in…
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Training Indigenous Agro-Forestry Agents in Acre, Brazil: Indigenous and Modern Technologies for Sustainability

Project Contributors: Giulia Pedone, Renato Gavazzi The Amazon region has largely been perceived as a boundless…
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A wolverine

Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge and Assessment of Species at Risk: A Case Study from Northern Canada

Project Contributor: Nathan Cardinal A wolverine sitting on a rock. Photo: Susanne Nilsson/Wikimedia Commons In Canada,…
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Re-establishing the inextricable link: Mbyá culture and biological diversity in the Atlantic Rainforest in Southeast Brazil

Project Contributors: Márcia Gomes de Oliveira and Norbert Suchanek The Mbyá are one of the last…
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Indigenous Knowledge, Biodiversity Conservation, and Poverty Alleviation Among Ethnic Minorities in Yunnan, China

Project Contributor: Xu Jianchu Within one hour, Tibetan villagers in northwest Yunnan collected more than 80…
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Bridging the (Digital) Gap: Aboriginal and Scientific Knowledge of Biodiversity in Northern Australia

Project Contributors: Helen Verran, David Turnbull Several groups of Australian Aboriginal Peoples are seeking ways to…
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Culturally Rich Agroecosystems: Maintaining Traditional Beliefs for Food Security in Nepal

Project Contributor: Laxmi Pant Nepalese “rice culture” has provided important options to address the needs of…
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Integrating Local and Scientific Knowledge: The Wik, Wik-Way & Kugu Ethnobiology Project in Queensland, Australia

Project Contributor: Sarah Edwards Dramatic changes to Aboriginal societies in Australia, which started with European colonization…
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The Kala Vernacular Education and Local Ecological Knowledge Project

Project Contributors: Christine Schreyer and John Wagner Tusi Nandang (on the right), research assistant, practicing his…
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Indigenous Sacred Sites and Biocultural Diversity: A Case Study from Southwestern Ethiopia

Project Contributor: Desalegn Desissa Community gathering in the Dorbo sacred pasture land to get blessing from…
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Endangered Languages, Endangered Knowledge: Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese of India

Project Contributor: Anvita Abbi Project Website: www.andamanese.net Peje, an Andamanese, cutting bamboo for making bows Credit:…
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Traditional Textiles of Cusco: Weaving Heritage

Project Contributor: Nilda Callañaupa The group of weavers working in Chinchero in April, 2007. This group…
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Recovering Landscape Health and Cultural Resilience in the Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico

Luís and Tomás Palma gathering native pine seeds for a tree nursery in their Sierra Tarahumara…
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Ancient Botanical Knowledge as Living Knowledge: Medicinal Plants of Antiquity

Project Contributor: Alain Touwaide Dr. Alain Touwaide at work in the Library at Soliman the Magnificent…
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The Language of the Environment: A Comparative Environmental Thesaurus

Project Contributor: Fulvio Mazzocchi The “Environmental Applications Reference Thesaurus” (EARTh) project, carried out by the Institute…
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Strengthening Culture and Conservation through Intangible Heritage and Performing Arts: The “Dance for the Earth and for Her Peoples” Initiative

Project Contributor: Robert Wild A dance of the Bambuti community of Semliki Forest, Western Uganda. Photo:…
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Worlds of Difference: Local Culture in a Global Age

Project Contributor: Jonathan Miller Peruvian biologist María Scurrah learning the names of traditional potato varieties from…
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Supporting Traditional Health Practices in Urban Areas: Indigenous Theory for First Nations Health in Canada

Project Contributor: Dawn Marsden Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), used by Indigenous Peoples in British Columbia, Canada, to…
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Caring for Country: Transmission of Aboriginal Environmental Knowledge in Western Australia

Project Contributor: Kimberley Language Resource Centre Aboriginal Corporation The Kimberley region of Western Australia is one…
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Learning That Wisdom Sits In Places: Apache Students Reconnecting To Land and Identity In Arizona, US

Project Contributors: Jonathan Long and Judy DeHose Apache students identifying plants at Goshtlish Tú Bil Sikané.…
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Wild Resources and Cultural Values: Implications for Biocultural Diversity in South Africa

Project Contributor: Michelle Cocks The woodpile is the Xhosa women's status symbol and cultural totem. Photo:…
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Women displaying kitete gourds and kitete seed necklaces at community festival Credit: Yasuyuki Morimoto/Bioversity International

Countering Local Knowledge Loss and Landrace Extinction in Kenya: The Case of the Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)

Project Contributor: Yasuyuki Morimoto Women displaying kitete gourds and kitete seed necklaces at community festival Credit:…
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Recovering the Connection between People and the Environment through Ancestral Law in British Columbia, Canada

Project Contributor: Patricia Vickers The Nisga’a People of the Nass River have lived on the northwest…
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biocultural diversity

Traditional Knowledge for Sustainability: Land use Planning among the Gitxaala of British Columbia, Canada

Project Contributor: Charles Menzies For many generations, the Gitxaala people have lived in their territories along…
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Combining Environmental Stewardship and Economic Renewal in Northern Canada: The Whitefeather Forest Initiative

Project Contributors: Alex Peters, Andrew Chapeskie, Whitefeather Forest The Whitefeather Forest planning area, located in the…
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Biodiversity Conservation Through Traditional Practices in Southwestern Ethiopia, a Hotspot of Biocultural Diversity

Project Contributor: Zerihun Woldu Konso woman, Ethiopia. Photo: Rod Waddington/Wikimedia The southern Rift Valley in Southwestern…
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Taking Conservation in Our Own Hands: Forest Protection and Management by Highland Communities in Cameroon

Project Contributors: Jonathan Barnard and John DeMarco The forest-farm boundary at the Kilum-Ijim Forest was agreed…
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