AN ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE’S STATUS AND ITS CONSERVATION OPTIONS By Ruifei Tang A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2012 I II Abstract The value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has been recognised and discussed widely in the literature and in public media over the last six decades. Over the same time period, the declining trend in TEK has been frequently reported across multiple case studies in every major region of the globe. As a result, a great number of international agreements (e.g. the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) have been established in attempt to protect indigenous rights. However, in many cases these agreements have not transformed into concrete TEK conservation actions at the ground level. Several key literature gaps are identified through this research: the lack of a review of 1) global patterns in the status of TEK; 2) threats to TEK; 3) TEK conservation options; 4) the lack of standard classification systems of TEK threats and conservation actions; 5) the status of TEK and conservation of TEK in Inner Mongolia China is largely unknown to the outside world; and 6) the limited understanding of the role of government policy on TEK trajectories in Inner Mongolia. To develop TEK threat and conservation action typologies is one major target of this research. This is because a standard classification system provides a common language for practitioners to identify problems and solutions, and to communicate across projects. More importantly, it provides a tool for identifying global patterns of TEK and creating a global network and common databases for TEK monitoring, thus to inform conservation actions. However, such a system is missing from the current literature. Part one of this research applied a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a global survey (n=137), its follow-up interviews (n=46), and a comprehensive literature review (n=152). The qualitative data analysis produced 1) a typology of TEK threats; 2) an analysis of the complex causal web among all TEK threats; 3) a typology of conservation actions; 4) the triggers and barriers to TEK conservation success; and 5) three design principles for effective TEK conservation. The quantitative data analysis explored 1) the responses’ geographical distribution; 2) the overall trend of TEK change; I and 3) the significance of different categories of TEK threats and conservation options. Part two of this research is a case study in Inner Mongolia with two critical outputs: 1) an examination of the impact of Chinese government policies on traditional resource management institutions over time; and 2) an application of the TEK typologies to analyse the current status of TEK and possible interventions in Inner Mongolia. The study applied three qualitative research methods: semi-structured interviews (n=91), group discussion (n=5 with 64 participants), and participant observation (eight weeks). The study found that in general government policies (from the1950s – 2007) had negatively affected Mongolian TEK and almost destroyed traditional institutions. However, the new Cooperative Law (2007) may positively impact local TEK by supporting community cooperative organisations and their activities of revitalising traditional herding practices, collective working relationships and traditional leadership. Through applying the typologies to the case study, this research provides a model of how to identify TEK threats and design conservation actions in real-world situations. Three core messages emerged from this research: 1) dealing with TEK threats and applying TEK conservation have to take a social-ecological system approach, in which social, political, cultural, economic and ecological aspects are all embedded; 2) the design and implementation of TEK conservation have to be cross-scale arrangements, in which the institutions from the local level up to the national and international levels are accommodated; and 3) power relations are at the core of achieving sustainable resource management and effective community empowerment. The cooperation between different levels of organisations and among different groups at the same levels requires appropriate power sharing. In a word, TEK is a complex, dynamic and systematic issue, TEK threats take place at multiple levels simultaneously. Therefore, to deal with TEK threats needs a complex, adaptive and systematic approach with holistic worldviews as the intellectual foundation. II Keywords traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), TEK threats, TEK conservation, indigenous peoples, indigenous rights, traditional institutions, institutional linkages, social- ecological systems, resource governance decentralisation, power sharing, power devolution, Inner Mongolia, China. III Acknowledgements My greatest THANKS go to my primary supervisor, Dr. Michael Gavin. Your broad knowledge and experience, enthusiasm and wisdom have constantly inspired and guided me to complete this three-year academic journey. I also deeply appreciate your encouragement when I was confused and depressed. I learned enormously from you and enjoyed this learning process. Prof. Phillip Morrison, thank you for taking the role as my secondary supervisor and providing your administrative support to my study since Michael went to work overseas. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all participants in the global survey and in the Inner Mongolia case study. Without your amazing contributions, my research would not have been possible. Thank you all for generously sharing your knowledge, experience and wisdom with me. Special thanks go to Wuritu and Wenduri — my hosts in Bayin Wenduri village in Inner Mongolia. You impressed me with your open arms and sincere generosity. Dear Dave, Christie, Catherine, Chris Bean, Chris Todd and Joe, thank you so much for taking your time and energy to proofread my thesis and improve the final product of my research. I am grateful to the sponsors of my PhD study. It was fully funded by the Victoria University PhD Scholarship between 2009 and 2012. This generous funding enabled me to carry out decent research without financial worries. The Royal Society of New Zealand (2010) and the Victoria University Faculty of Science (2011) funded me for presenting my research at multiple international conferences. These conference opportunities were extremely valuable to my research and to my academic merit. Last and most importantly, I want to thank my husband Erich Eder. You have been my colleague whom I discussed numerous questions and difficulties with, my primary IV proof-reader who read through all chapters not only once (voluntarily or coerced by your wife), my lovely companion for conferences and field work, and my mental supporter when I was depressed and tired. I would also like to thank our baby-to-be. Bo Xun, you have given mum extraordinary energy for completing this thesis! It would be much harder without the expectation of your arrival! V List of Abbreviations CBD: Convention of Biological Diversity IPR: Intellectual Property Rights IIED: International Institute of Environment and Development ILO: International Labour Organisation IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN-CMP: International Union for Conservation of Nature – Conservation Measure Partnership NGO: Non-Governmental Organisation SES: Social-Ecological System SPFII: Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues TEK: Traditional Ecological Knowledge UN: United Nations UNDP: United Nations Development Programmes UNCTAD: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation UNEP: United Nations Environment Programmes WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organisation WHO: World Health Organisation VI List of Figures Figure 1.1 An analytical model of the traditional ecological knowledge system ............ 11 Figure 1.2 Applicability of TEK to conservation biology and ecology .................................. 20 Figure 1.3 Decentralisation and devolution in resource and environmental management ................................................................................................................................................ 38 Figure 1.4 The core subsystems in a framework for analysing SES ..................................... 39 Figure 2.1 The locations of two target communities in Inner Mongolia, China .............. 60 Figure 2.2 An interview conducted in a household in Bayin gacha ..................................... 62 Figure 2.3 An interview conducted in the field in Bayin gacha ............................................. 63 Figure 2.4 A group discussion conducted in a local household ............................................. 64 Figure 2.5 Participant observation conducted during a community gathering with seven families .......................................................................................................................................................... 65 Figure 3.1 A model of a TEK conservation project ..................................................................... 78 Figure 3.2 Map of the survey responses’ geographic distribution ....................................... 81 Figure 3.3 Geographical distribution of survey responses .....................................................