Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Environmental Assessment and Management

Abstract

ABSTRACT. It is now a policy requirement that "traditional ecological knowledge" (TEK) be incorporated into environmental assessment and resource management in the North. However, there is little common understanding about what TEK is, and no guidance on how to implement the policy in public arenas where knowledge claims must be tested. The problems are inconsistent and unclear definitions of TEK, and insufficient attention to appropriate methods of organizing and presenting it for assessment and management purposes. TEK can be classified as knowledge about the environment, knowledge about the use of the environment, values about the environment, and the knowledge system itself. All categories are required for environmental assessment, but each must be presented and examined differently. TEK and "Western" science provide partially different information, based on different sets of observations and procedures, and sometimes on different knowledge claims. It is important that TEK be comprehensible and testable as a knowledge claim in public reviews, and usable for ongoing public monitoring and co-management processes. To this end, certain procedures are recommended for recording, organizing, and presenting TEK, with particular emphasis on the need to differentiate between observation and inference or association. Documenting TEK as recommended usually requires trained intermediaries, but they in turn require the support and cooperation of those who have TEK. One consequence is that it is often both impractical and inappropriate to require development proponents to incorporate TEK into their environmental impact statements. However, the environmental assessment process must facilitate the use of TEK in the public review phase.Key words: traditional ecological knowledge, environmental assessment, co-management, research methods, public policy, Canada RÉSUMÉ. Les politiques publiques exigent maintenant que le «savoir écologique traditionnel» (SÉT) soit inclus dans les évaluations environnementales et la gestion des ressources du Nord. On ne s'accorde toutefois pas très bien sur la nature du SÉT et il n'existe pas de principes directeurs sur la façon d'appliquer la politique dans la sphère publique où la revendication du savoir doit être mise à l'essai. Les problèmes sont dus au fait que le SÉT est défini en termes vagues et contradictoires, et que les méthodes appropriées à l'organisation et à la présentation de ce savoir à des fins de gestion ne sont pas toujours suivies. On peut placer le SÉT dans les catégories de connaissance de l'environnement, de connaissance de l'utilisation de l'environnement, de valeurs concernant l'environnement et du système de savoir lui-même. Toutes les catégories sont requises pour l'évaluation environnementale, mais chacune doit être présentée et étudiée sous un angle différent. Le SÉT et la science dite occidentale offrent des renseignements en partie divergents, qui s'appuient sur des ensembles d'observations et de procédures différents, et parfois sur des revendications du savoir dif...

Integrating Traditional and Evolutionary Knowledge in Biodiversity Conservation: a Population Level Case Study

“…Third, whenever possible, we included multiple informants for areas of primary use of brook charr in the lake, e.g., feeding and breeding areas, to evaluate corroboration among informants' observations. Fourth, we chose elder or older individuals over younger individuals for interviews as other studies have done (Ferguson and Messier 1997, Huntington 1998, Usher 2000, Nichols et al 2004), since they could provide information about brook charr biology over longer periods of ~40 yr. Finally, interpreters chosen by the Cree Trapper's Association were used when necessary to accurately translate the native language into English.…”

“…Collaborative fieldwork offered a means of obtaining TEK over extended periods (Dowler 1996, Huntington 2000. It also enabled us to establish trust with individuals and to explain the benefits and importance of our scientific research for the local community and people (see Usher 2000). Additionally, it permitted us to show that our sampling techniques were not detrimental to the well being of individual brook charr.…”

“…Recent studies and essays have noted that extracting available TEK in its entirety may be difficult due to cultural, communication, or language issues (Ferguson and Messier 1997, Wenzel 1999, Huntington 2000, Turner et al 2000, Usher 2000, Drew 2005. Throughout this study, we consulted community officials to identify key informants for the interviews and fieldwork (see Ferguson and Messier 1997, Huntington 1998, Davis and Wagner 2003.…”

Interpretations of Polar Bear (<em>Ursus maritimus</em>) Tracks by Inuit Hunters: Inter-rater Reliability and Inferences Concerning Accuracy

“…The integration of local knowledge/expertise into valid scientific Polar Bear monitoring methods is a laudable goal (Agreement between the Inuit of the nunavut settlement area and Her majesty the Queen in right of Canada 1993*; government of the northwest Territories 1993*; Usher 2000), but it has proven to be elusive. Information that Inuit hunters can provide, for example, numbers, age, or sex classes of Polar Bears or location of sightings (Stirling and Parkinson 2006), has not been integrated into a rigorous repeatable Interpretations of Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Tracks by Inuit Hunters: Inter-rater Reliability and Inferences Concerning Accuracy method, fuelling international criticisms of changes in quotas based on data provided by Inuit hunters (these data are considered non-scientific information) (Aars et al 2006*).…”

Mammal Distribution in Nunavut: Inuit Harvest Data and COSEWIC's Species at Risk Assessment Process

“…Data compiled for COSEWIC Status Reports must be the best available from both scientific and Aboriginal traditional knowledge (ATK) sources (COSEWIC 2011a). The term ATK is utilized by COSEWIC but is also referred to as TEK (traditional ecological knowledge), which has been defined and categorized in numerous publications (e.g., Duerden and Kuhn 1998, Wenzel 1999, Berkes et al 2000, Usher 2000, Houde 2007. TEK "refers specifically to all types of knowledge about the environment derived from the experience and traditions of a particular group of people" (Usher 2000:185; emphasis in the original).…”