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Elements of indigenous socio-ecological knowledge show resilience despite ecosystem changes in the forest-grassland mosaics of the Nilgiri Hills, India
- Source :
- Palgrave Communications, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.
-
Abstract
- The Nilgiri Hills in the Western Ghats of India constitute a region of high biological and cultural diversity, and include an endangered shola forest-grassland mosaic ecosystem. A mosaic ecosystem is one consisting of adjacent, coexisting patches of highly distinct naturally occurring land states (in this case, shola forest and natural grassland). Changes in the landscape since the nineteenth century have severely impacted the shola-grassland mosaic and challenged the traditional lifestyles of the indigenous Toda people. However, the responses of traditional Toda socio-ecological perspectives and landscape management to these changes have not been explored through population surveys. Here, using a survey method, the article explores traditional Toda perspectives of ecosystem value and landmanagement practices. The survey consists of interviews of 50 respondents belonging to 24 munds (villages), covering ten clans, neighbouring mosaic lands, plantations and agricultural areas. The findings show that traditional socio-ecological landscape management is robust and has persisted despite marked ecological and socio-economic changes during the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries, and despite frequent gathering of land management advice from non-Toda. Elements of traditional socio-ecological knowledge that have persisted include prevalent collective traditional decision-making and long-held preferences for a landscape composition with a strong mosaic component. The highly robust nature of Toda socio-ecological culture and land management suggests that the Todas have a valuable role to play in supporting the long-term persistence of the shola-grassland mosaic. Increasing their stewardship role would help conserve this endangered and highly biodiverse ecosystem, while at the same time preserving a unique indigenous culture.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
education.field_of_study
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Agroforestry
business.industry
General Arts and Humanities
Population
Land management
Endangered species
Biodiversity
General Social Sciences
Mosaic (geodemography)
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Indigenous
lcsh:Social Sciences
lcsh:H
Geography
Agriculture
Ecosystem
education
business
General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
General Psychology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20551045
- Volume :
- 4
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Palgrave Communications
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ac08d65e0e90911745bc3243134d19a1
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0157-x