Integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest biodiversity conservation in the Pacific Northwest

The potential for traditional and local ecological knowledge to contribute to biodiversity conservation has been widely recognized, but the actual application of this knowledge to biodiversity conservation is not easy. This paper synthesizes literature about traditional and local ecological knowledge and forest management in the Pacific Northwest to evaluate what is needed to accomplish this goal. We address three topics: (1) views and values people have relating to biodiversity; (2) the resource use and management practices of local forest users, and their effects on biodiversity; (3) models for integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into biodiversity conservation on public and private lands. We focus on the ecological knowledge of forest users belonging to three groups who inhabit the region: American Indians, family forest owners, and commercial nontimber forest product harvesters. We argue that integrating traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest biodiversity conservation is most likely to be successful if the knowledge holders are directly engaged as active participants in these efforts. Although several promising models exist for how to integrate traditional and local ecological knowledge into forest management, a number of social, economic, and policy constraints have prevented this knowledge from flourishing and being applied. These constraints should be addressed alongside any strategy for knowledge integration. Also needed is more information about how different groups of forest practitioners are currently implementing traditional and local ecological knowledge in forest use and management, and what the ecological outcomes are with regard to biodiversity. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.