Factors influencing local ecological knowledge maintenance in Mediterranean watersheds: Insights for environmental policies

Abstract

Local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been found to be one of the main bridges to manage biocultural diversity. We analyzed the factors affecting LEK maintenance and transmission in a Mediterranean watershed. We used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the agricultural LEK in three different dimensions: biological, soil and water management, and forecasting. We found that the main factors for its maintenance were the respondent's time living in the area and the social relationships established among farmers, which involved partner collaboration and farmer information exchanges. Protected areas also played a key role for maintaining the LEK associated with soil and water management. Finally, we found that outmigration and mechanization were the most important indirect drivers of change underlying LEK erosion. We suggest that environmental policies should focus on promoting this experiential knowledge, considering both intergenerational renewal and the gendered aspects of this knowledge.

Toward the Integrated Framework Analysis of Linkages among Agrobiodiversity, Livelihood Diversification, Ecological Systems, and Sustainability amid Global Change

“…For example, the decline of chili pepper markets led to disintensification in the southern Yucatán region of Mexico through processes of livelihood diversification based on international migration and the influence of women's role in subsequent resource use [173,196,197]. In other cases, where women have migrated significantly, such as the case of remote-rural regions of Spain and elsewhere in Europe, including the former German Democratic Republic [99,198], new arrangements combine the "masculinization" of continued land use with social innovations in women's continued albeit reduced involvement.…”

Resilience of small-scale societies: a view from drylands

“…Through such networks, family members are sent away to diversify income, gain knowledge, spread risk, reduce population pressure, insure against future shocks and stresses, and gather capabilities to sustain the community. Although outmigration has been identified elsewhere as a major driver for the loss of local ecological knowledge (Iniesta-Arandia et al 2015), in other cases migrant social networks show potential for the increase of social resilience in vulnerable communities, by offering new opportunities to diversify household livelihoods and triggering innovations across regions through, e.g., remittance flows, transfer of knowledge, technological transfer and renewable energy, collaborative projects for water management, and education to cite but a few (Scheffran et al 2012b, Ngaruiya et al 2015.…”

Biophysical and sociocultural factors underlying spatial trade-offs of ecosystem services in semiarid watersheds

“…4). These results show the relevant role of traditional practices in agriculture to promote soil and water conservation through the use of terraces and acequias, respectively (Iniesta-Arandia et al 2015). The viability of this area therefore requires the maintenance of traditional agricultural practices that are adapted to the extreme semiarid conditions.…”

“…As Iniesta-Arandia et al (2015) described, water infiltration in acequias contributes to the maintenance of broad leaf vegetation species and humid habitats for other species (Espín et al 2010), promoting regulating services, such as microclimatic regulation http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol20/iss3/art39/ and water-related ecosystem services (Pulido-Bosch and Ben Sbih 1995). In addition, local irrigation communities promote the maintenance of local practices and social capital (Rodríguez 2006, Waylen et al 2010.…”

“…In addition, local irrigation communities promote the maintenance of local practices and social capital (Rodríguez 2006, Waylen et al 2010. However, this traditional system is threatened by two principal indirect drivers: (1) rural abandonment caused by depopulation and the conversion of the economy to the service sector (Pineda 2001) and (2) the intensification of agricultural systems, including the introduction of modern irrigation canals (Spalding 2000, Iniesta-Arandia et al 2015. If the acequias system falls into disuse, the terraced agricultural system will suffer the same consequence, resulting in increased soil erosion (Douglas et al 1994) or degradation of the stability of a particular terraceacequia-vegetation system (Spalding 2000).…”