Why the postage stamp approach to conservation is not working: Lessons from Indigenous science and complex systems science and the imperative for change.

Background/Question/Methods

Indigenous scientific knowledge continues to gain recognition as having the potential to provide significant contributions to "settler" science-based ecological conservation management practises. Recent research from the University of British Columbia, Canada emphasizes the importance of collaborating with Indigenous communities to protect flora and fauna species and their critical habitat requirements. Despite this, there remain significant challenges in collaboratively and effectively applying Indigenous scientific knowledge (or Traditional Ecological Knowledge) to settler-science based land and conservation management approaches. The worldviews of Indigenous people provide them with an inherent environmental responsibility and because of this, their approach to land conservation and management is done in a holistic manner that encompasses the complex inter-connectivities of the land and water. Complex systems science, as applied to ecosystems, endorse a non-linear and holistic approach that advocates a system can be better understood by examining the interaction among the various components of the system at multiple scales. We identified the common themes and threads between Indigenous and complex systems sciences through literature searches as well as semi-formal interviews with Traditional knowledge holders in the southern interior region of British Columbia Canada.

Results/Conclusions

This research portrays contemporary and traditional Indigenous approaches to land management and conservation with a focus on Indigenous communities in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and the Northwest Territories of Canada. The research provides insight on how attributes of complex systems science share the sophistication and preciseness that Indigenous people apply in their traditional practises for land management and stewardship. The research ultimately leads us to envision the strengths behind these two knowledge systems and how together, they might elucidate new collaborative approaches to conservation and sustainable practises of land management for future generations.