Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Ecosystem Services in Sloping Lands Sloping Lands in Transition meeting, Kunming Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez, CIFOR

A Wasted Resource Although traditional ecological knowledge and practices

are important resources used by smallholders, including ethnic minorities to manage forests for

multiple uses, they are rarely considered or incorporated into reforestation or forest restoration

programs

Traditional ecological knowledge offers:

§  Multiple systems for managing and “creating” forests for multiple uses

§  Dynamic systems for managing forests and landscapes in ways that provide direct benefits including food, forage, construction materials, etc. as well as a variety of ecosystem services including: •  Restoring soil fertility •  Erosion control •  Regulation of water flow and quality •  Pollination services •  Conservation of biodiversity including

agrobiodiversity •  And others….

Forest management practices often include

§ Enhancing natural regeneration and stand development using •  Selective weeding •  Enriching stands by transplanting

seedlings •  A variety of silvicutural practices like:

brushing, pruning, thinning, and others •  Opening gaps, light manipulation, and

others

Studying traditional ecological management in Guanxi province: A project of Minzu University

Miao communities have traditions of simultaneously managing

landscapes for livelihoods and ecosystem services

- Selection and planting of species, especially

shrubs and grasses for water retention - Selection and planting of bamboos for control

of soil erosion - Managing forest edges for collecting wild

vegetable especially mushrooms for food and cash sale

Some of these practices include

These communities are not isolated; there is much migration and participation in a variety of projects and other initiatives Much of the traditional knowledge has been “hybridized” with new knowledge from urban sources, projects, markets, and other knowledge sources. Multi-sited households and multi-sited livelihoods. Remittance landscapes

Perhaps traditional ecological knowledge and practices of landscape restoration and forest management can be better used in China’s Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program