A call for the library community to deploy best practices toward a database for biocultural knowledge relating to climate change

PurposeIn this paper, a call to the library and information science community to support documentation and conservation of cultural and biocultural heritage has been presentedDesign/methodology/approachBased in existing Literature, this proposal is generative and descriptive—rather than prescriptive—regarding precisely how libraries should collaborate to employ technical and ethical best practices to provide access to vital data, research and cultural narratives relating to climate.FindingsCOVID-19 and climate destruction signal urgent global challenges. Library best practices are positioned to respond to climate change. Literature indicates how libraries preserve, share and cross-link cultural and scientific knowledge. With wildfires, drought, flooding and other extreme or slow-onset weather events presenting dangers, it is imperative that libraries take joint action toward facilitating sustainable and open access to relevant information.Practical implicationsAn initiative could create an easily-accessible, open, linked, curated, secure and stakeholder-respectful database for global biocultural heritage—documenting traditional knowledge, local knowledge and climate adaptation traditions.Social implicationsOngoing stakeholder involvement from the outset should acknowledge preferences regarding whether or how much to share information. Ethical elements must be embedded from concept to granular access and metadata elements.Originality/valueRooted in the best practices and service orientation of library science, the proposal envisions a sustained response to a common global challenge. Stewardship would also broadly assist the global community by preserving and providing streamlined access to information of instrumental value to addressing climate change.

Remote Sensing for Biocultural Heritage Preservation in an African Semi-Arid Region: A Case Study of Indigenous Wells in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia

The region of Southern Ethiopia (Borana) and Northern Kenya (Marsabit) is characterised by erratic rainfall, limited surface water, aridity, and frequent droughts. An important adaptive response to these conditions, of uncertain antiquity, has been the hand-excavation of a sequence of deep wells at key locations often along seasonal riverbeds and valley bottoms where subterranean aquifers can be tapped. Sophisticated indigenous water management systems have developed to ensure equitable access to these critical water resources, and these are part of well-defined customary institutional leadership structures that govern the community giving rise to a distinctive form of biocultural heritage. These systems, and the wells themselves, are increasingly under threat, however, from climate change, demographic growth, and socio-economic development. To contribute to an assessment of the scale, distribution and intensity of these threats, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use land-cover (LULC) and precipitation changes in this semi-arid to arid landscape and their association with, and impact on, the preservation of traditional wells. Multitemporal Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite imagery covering the period 1990 to 2020, analysed at a temporal resolution of 10 years, was classified using supervised classification via the Random Forest machine learning method to extract the following classes: bare land, grassland, shrub land, open forest, closed forest, croplands, settlement and waterbodies. Change detection was then applied to identify and quantify changes through time and landscape degradation indices were generated using the Shannon Diversity Index fragmentation index within a 15 km buffer of each well cluster. The results indicated that land cover change was mostly driven by increasing anthropogenic changes with resultant reduction in natural land cover classes. Furthermore, increased fragmentation has occurred within most of the selected buffer distances of the well clusters. The main drivers of change that have directly or indirectly impacted land degradation and the preservation of indigenous water management systems were identified through an analysis of land cover changes in the last 30 years, supporting insights from previous focused group discussions with communities in Kenya and Ethiopia. Our approach showed that remote sensing methods can be used for the spatially explicit mapping of landscape structure around the wells, and ultimately towards assessment of the preservation status of the indigenous wells.

Northwest Native Plants: A Digital Space for Paleoethnobotanical Knowledges and Biocultural Heritage

Biocultural heritage preservation relies on ethnobotanical knowledge and the paleoethnobotanical data used in (re)constructing histories of human-biota interactions. Biocultural heritage, defined as the knowledge and practices of Indigenous and Local peoples and their biological relatives, is often guarded information, meant for specific audiences and withheld from other social circles. As such, these forms of heritage and knowledge must also be included in the ongoing data sovereignty discussions and movement. In this paper we share the process and design decisions behind creating an online database for ethnobotanical knowledge and associated paleoethnobotanical data, using a content management system designed to foreground Indigenous and local perspectives. Our main purpose is to suggest the Mukurtu content management system, originally designed for physical items of cultural importance, be considered as a potential tool for digitizing and ethically circulating biocultural heritage, including paleoethnobotanical resources. With this database, we aim to create access to biocultural heritage and paleoethnobotanical considerations for a variety of audiences while also respecting the protected and sensitive natures of Indigenous and local knowledges.

Use of the Coyol Palm (Acrocomia aculeata) for the Production of “Taberna,” a Traditional Fermented Beverage in México

Acrocomia aculeata is a palm, which is used for various purposes in different rural communities in southeastern Mexico; among which is the obtaining of a traditional fermented beverage called “taberna.” The objective of this study was to know the management that taberna producers give to the coyol palm. The work was carried out between march and april 2016 in two communities in Chiapas. The information on palm management was obtained by applying semi-structured interviews to the families that make the beverage in each community, who narrated the process of using the palm; from its care in the field, to its court for the elaboration of a taberna and the uses and customs that revolve around this activity were described. With this work, it was possible to know the details of the elaboration of the beverage from a social and cultural perspective, which is surrounded by traditional knowledge, with great biocultural importance that gives identity not only to the communities that possess the resource, but also to the families that they take advantage of it. With this, it is expected to contribute to a management and conservation plan for the species, to guarantee the resource to the communities and preserve the biological and cultural diversity associated with this activity, given that the use of natural resources is ultimately a biocultural heritage that implies a relationship between natural resources, people, regions and local culture.

How does urbanization affect perceptions and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants?

Background The use and knowledge of medicinal plants play an essential role in community health in rural Mexico. Medicinal plants are part of the local heritage and provide a source of economic income. Nevertheless, knowledge of their use has declined due to factors like accelerated urbanization. Some authors have proposed that by reducing natural spaces, urbanization generates changes that impact the recognition, use, and management of natural resources. Here, we evaluate how urbanization affects the knowledge, use, and perception of medicinal plants in a Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. Methods Using a mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative analyses, we generated a list of medicinal plants, methods of preparation, prevalence of illness, and use in two communities with different degrees of urbanization. Results A total of 217 medicinal plants were identified. The more urbanized community had greater knowledge of, and used, a larger number of introduced plant species, while the less urbanized community used and had more knowledge about wild plants. One of the factors explaining these differences was occupation, with people who work outdoors showing greater knowledge of wild plants. Conclusions Urbanization can lead to a loss of knowledge of the use and management of local wild species, with implications for the conservation of biocultural heritage. Substitution of native medicinal plants by introduced species shows disinterest and disuse in the local medicinal flora, which could be reflected in their ecosystems.

Comparison of traditional knowledge about edible plants among young Southern Tepehuans of Durango, Mexico

Background: Traditional ecological knowledge is an important part of biocultural heritage of societies; it has been reported their disappearance and in some cases this phenomenon has been associated with socioeconomic factors such as formal education. Questions and/or Hypotheses: How does traditional knowledge about edible plants vary between three groups of young Southern Tepehuans from different educational contexts? Study site and dates: Southern Durango, Mexico; September 2017 to November 2018. Methods: Traditional knowledge was compared among young Southern Tepehuan informants from three educational contexts: rural students, urban students and non-students. Each informant answered a questionnaire about 20 selected wild edible plants and wrote a free list of additional species. The results of these instruments allowed to determine a traditional knowledge grade per person. The statistical analyzes performed were ANCOVA and Chi-square tests. Results: Educational context, as well as age and gender proved to be variables statistically significant, not so the interaction between educational context and gender. Non-students hold the highest knowledge grade, and no significant difference was found in the traditional knowledge among rural and urban students. Conclusions: As has been documented in studies for other ethnic groups, our results suggest that traditional knowledge tends to disappear among Southern Tepehuans due to changes in lifestyles induced by formal education, such as reduced access to nature, nutritional transition and disuse of indigenous languages. To preserve the biocultural heritage, it is essential to apply novel strategies favoring alternative ways of knowledge transmission.

The Monumental Olive Trees as Biocultural Heritage of Mediterranean Landscapes: The Case Study of Sicily

Monumental olive trees, with their longevity and their remarkable size, represent an important information source for the comprehension of the territory where they grow and the human societies that have kept them through time. Across the centuries, olive trees are the only cultivated plants that tell the story of Mediterranean landscapes. The same as stone monuments, these green monuments represent a real Mediterranean natural and cultural heritage. The aim of this paper is to discuss the value of monumental trees as “biocultural heritage” elements and the role they play in the interpretation of the historical stratification of the landscape. We present the results of a survey of the most significant olive trees growing in Sicily. The selection was based on the “monumentality” aspects of trees, taking into account dendrometric parameters and environmental contexts. The collected dataset constitutes a heterogeneous sample of 367 specimens of considerable size that, in some cases, reach a circumference of about 19 m. Starting from the data presented here, the whole Sicilian territory shows a historical relationship between human and olive. The presence of these plant monuments is, therefore, evidence of long-term, often centennial, landscapes as a result of sustainable use of the territory.

Overcoming Tribal Boundaries: The Biocultural Heritage of Foraging and Cooking Wild Vegetables among Four Pathan Groups in the Gadoon Valley, NW Pakistan

The foraging and consumption of wild food plants is a long-standing tradition in many parts of the world and their importance in promoting food security has become more widely debated in recent years. The current study aimed to document, analyze, and interpret the traditional knowledge of non-cultivated vegetables among four Pathan tribes (Alisher Khel, Hadarzai, Haji Khel, and Umarzai) living in the Gadoon Valley, Swabi District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, NW Pakistan, and to evaluate how these practices vary among the considered tribal communities. A total of 104 informants were interviewed via a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire and group discussions. The field survey was conducted from October 2018 to November 2020. Information about local names, growth habit, used plant parts, food/cooking details, medicinal perceptions, availability season, and market prices were collected. The field survey recorded 51 non-cultivated vegetables belonging to 24 botanical families, for which the frequently used plant parts included young leaves, stems, and flowers. The greatest number of use reports was recorded for Colocasia and the highest cultural index value was recorded for Rumex dentatus; the dominant botanical families were Asteraceae and Fabaceae (six species each). Seven species were found to be sold at local and regional markets. Cross-cultural analysis among the four considered tribes showed that the largest number of species was reported by members of the Hadarzai and Umarzai tribes, although most of the quoted wild vegetables were homogenously gathered among all considered communities, with some more idiosyncratic plant uses among the Umarzai group, who have likely been less affected by the erosion of traditional knowledge or possibly have had less access to traded cultivated vegetables. The novelty of the data was assessed by comparing it with the previously published wild food ethnobotanical literature of Pakistan, which showed fifteen new wild vegetables not yet reported in the NW of the country. The recorded food biocultural heritage should be seriously considered in future local development projects aimed at fostering environmental sustainability and food security.

La lucha socioambiental de proyectos alternativos. El caso del cerdo pelón en Yucatán

In the Mayan rural communities in the Yucatan peninsula alternative social projects have been implemented by different actors, which focus on the promotion and production of the local pork species known as cerdo pelón. This represents an alternative to the conventional industrialized pork breeding, mainly for profitability. Through a feminist political ecology lens, and an ethnographic methodology, findings reveal that these alternative projects have given way to an active resistance with positive results in the inclusion, in food security among participants and in the revaluation of traditional practices. The article recommends that social projects prioritize the inclusion of women and the promotion of local biocultural heritage.

Medicinal plants, natural and cultural heritage of the Bamba Natural and Recreational Water Reserve, La Calera, Córdoba, Argentina

Herbal medicine has played a leading role in the health systems of many traditional societies. The main objective is to characterize an aspect of the natural and culturalheritage of a protected area of the town of La Calera, through the documentation of medicinal plants of the Bamba Water and Recreational Nature Reserve (RNHRB), in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. Methodologies of social and natural sciences, typical of ethnoecological approaches, were combined, complementing with qualitative and quantitative analyzes. A total of 221 uses corresponding to 137 medicinal species were documented. The most relevant families in terms of quantity of species and uses are Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae. In all cases the native / wild status predominates. Applications associated with gastrointestinal conditions are the most frequent, followed by dermatological, pneumonological, infectological and nephrological. It is concluded that herbal medicine in protected areas provides valuable information and efforts for the conservation of biocultural heritage in intangible rural areas with urbanized spaces, as well as for the potencial knowledge and use of resources by small local producers.