Traditional Indigenous knowledge (TK) and traditional resources have been managed by Indigenous communities since time immemorial. The arrival of Europeans and the ensuing insatiable demand for resources, coupled with colonizing policies and the imposition of western worldviews, undermined and threatened the continuity of traditional knowledge. However, over the past four decades, there has been an increasing appreciation of the value of traditional knowledge in resource development projects, environmental management, government policies, and co-management strategies. Increasingly, its role in climate change monitoring is considered critical.
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There are more and more articles in the news about the value of Indigenous traditional knowledge being taken into account in climate change studies, environmental assessments, wildlife management, plant species’ studies. That has not always been the case. Historically, traditional ecological knowledge was largely ignored by western ecological science practitioners.
In this article, we take a look at the many factors that had to be in place to support recognition of Indigenous traditional knowledge (ITK) from obscurity to being considered a valuable asset in environmental studies. At the time of this writing, May 2018, it is still not mandatory in the environmental assessment process.
