An Overview Of Our Solution
The Himalayan region which is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, is also the home to an extraordinary cultural multiplicity among its numerous mountain nationalities. In recent years, climate change and its impacts on biodiversity have become gradually obvious in the Himalayan region. This project aims to develop a community-based biodiversity conservation plan based on the traditional ecological knowledge in the Eastern Tibetan Himalayas of North-West Yunnan Province, China, in order to assist in effectively and sustainably responding to the impacts of Climate Change on the biodiversity. This project also aims to use the best of ‘top-down’ scientific policy, relevant approaches with ‘bottom-up’ traditional ecological knowledge research to achieve its main objectives - seeking to reconcile traditional ecological knowledge with mainstream science.
- Population Impacted: 2200
- Continent: Asia
Last name
Organization type
Context Analysis
Climate change impacts are already occurring in the Himalayas. Limited studies on temperature and precipitation for a few localized places show that warming in Himalayas is 3 times greater than the global average. So the Himalayas are among the regions most vulnerable to climate change, and are undergoing rapid environmental change. Upstream snow and ice reserves of Himalayas, important in sustaining seasonal water availability, are likely to be affected substantially by climate change. A shift in winter precipitation from snow to rain, as temperatures rise, leads to change in the timing of the peaks of streamflow. As glaciers retreat due to warming, river flows increase in the short term but decline once the glaciers disappear. Ongoing climate change over succeeding decades will likely have additional negative impacts across these mountains, including significant cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem; and local people’s livelihoods.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Community-based biodiversity conservation plan is an approach that enables individuals, groups, and institutions to participate in identifying and addressing biodiversity-related local issues. In order to implement more effective biodiversity conservation plan, based on the survey data and results of PAR in different villages, the project will formulatee three community-based biodiversity conservation models:
i.Biodiversity conservation model. This model mainly based on the knowledge of traditional cultures related to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
ii.Biodiversity recovery model. This model mainly based on the knowledge and customary law for use of biodiversity resources.
iii.Biodiversity utilisation model. This model mainly based on the knowledge for use of biodiversity resources and the technical innovations for use of biodiversity resources and traditional farming and lifestyle practices.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
I have brought local peoples to the cause in order to create change through community-based action research. First of all, it considers the fact that local peoples have abundant knowledge and information about their own regions. Even though traditional knowledge does not use rigorous scientific methods, the peoples gain their understanding according to the actual situation around them using the special local natural environment and their cultural background. Secondly, it acknowledges local peoples’ ability and believes that they are able to conduct research themselves independently and not just passively provide information. Thirdly, local peoples do the research on their own. Finally, the aim of the study is not for academic papers or reports but rather for encouraging local peoples to use their own culture and environment that they rely on for the groundwork of advocacy.
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
The project focus on the Tibetan people in the Eastern Himalayas. The project will develop a community-based biodiversity conservation plan based on the action research on traditional knowledge about biodiversity in the context of climate change. Specifically, the following steps will be included:
First step. Community-based research on traditional knowledge about biodiversity and climate change. Usually, research is carried out by academics or NGO staffs, in the community oriented research, local villagers represented by local experts are the main body, and they carry out research on their own traditional knowledge. Indigenous peoples often have rich traditional knowledge in different fields, and the project will supports local villagers to identify different research topics based on their traditional knowledge, for example, the impact of climate change on biodiversity resources, water resources, traditional medicines, plants, non-timber forest products and so on, then local villagers will set up research groups in their respective fields, the project will supports the villagers' research team, to carry out research on topics of concern.
Second step. On the basis of community-based research, the traditional knowledge will be classified. The project will classify traditional knowledge which link with the biodiversity, and the traditional knowledge is divided into five categories:
i.The knowledge for traditional use of agricultural bio-species and genetic resources;
ii.The knowledge for traditional use of medicinal bio-species;
iii.Traditional technical innovations for bio-resource use and traditional practices for farming and living styles;
iv.Traditional cultures such as customary laws and community protocols that are related to conservation and sustainable use of bio-resources;
v.Traditional geographically biological indicators.
Third step. Based on the classification of the traditional knowledge, the project began to develop a community-based biodiversity conservation plan for climate change, and conducted action research to help Tibetan villagers cope with climate change.
Fourth step. The project will discover the traditional organization in the community as a platform for project implementation; use the custom law in the community as a method of project implementation. The sustainable biodiversity conservation plan can be realized by means of traditional community organizations and customary law. The aim is to integrate external projects with local traditional and customary practices, the biodiversity conservation plan has become a familiar local solution for the villagers, and finally realize the biodiversity conservation.
Describe your implementation
Goal 1: Conserving agricultural bio-species and genetic resources by traditional knowledge
Activities 1.Survey the agricultural bio-species and genetic resources, and the key impacts of climate change
2.Survey the knowledge for traditional use of agricultural bio-species and genetic resources
3.Establish community-based biodiversity conservation plan on agricultural bio-species and genetic resources
Goal 2: Conserving medicinal bio-species by traditional knowledge
Activities 1.Survey the medicinal bio-species resources and the impacts of climate change
2.Survey traditional knowledge of medicinal bio-species resources
3.Establish community-based biodiversity conservation plan on medicinal bio-species resources
Goal 3: Conserving biodiversity resources of alpine pastures by traditional knowledge
Activities 1.Survey alpine pasture grass resources and the impacts of Climate Change
2.Survey traditional alpine pasture management methods and the impacts of Climate Change
3.Establish community-based biodiversity conservation plan on biodiversity resources of alpine pastures
Goal 4: Conserving biodiversity resources of alpine forest by traditional knowledge
Activities 1.Survey the biodiversity of alpine forest and the impacts of Climate Change
2.Survey traditional alpine forest management methods and the impacts of Climate Change
3.Establish community-based biodiversity conservation plan on biodiversity of alpine forest
Outcomes/Impacts Traditional knowledge is innovated, biodiversity resources of alpine forest are used, and improvements are made to economic diversity and livelihood security of local Tibetan.
Goal 5: Conserving the diversity of ecosystem by traditional knowledge
Activities 1.Survey the diversity of ecosystem and the impacts of Climate Change
2.Survey traditional management methods of diversity of ecosystem
3.Establish community-based biodiversity conservation plan on the diversity of ecosystem
External connections
The project will foster collaboration with existing partners while establishing new partnerships and collaborations. Climate Change is a global issue, and thus, our collaborations and partnerships should be truly global. Global networks and associations, especially through the ongoing formation of our International Scientific Advisory Group, will help us develop new ideas and consolidate capacity building activities, as well as provide excellent opportunities for publication, knowledge dissemination and policy interfacing. Firstly, the project has a good relationship with the United Nations University, Institute for Peace and Sustainability. Not only does this project focus on the scientific capacity building of Climate Impact & Vulnerability Assessment, it aims to look at how indigenous knowledge can be meaningfully included in this process, and furthermore, how scientific data collected via engagement with indigenous knowledge can be meaningfully included in international assessments such as the IPCC. Local knowledge has a very credible authority for informing and influencing policy. The UNU has a new “Traditional Knowledge Initiative” which notes that the IPCC has identified local knowledge as an important missing element in it’s previous assessments, and a focus for it’s next assessment processes. This project will work hand-in-hand with the United Nations University and contribute significantly to their research programmes.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
In this project, we will focus, for the first time, traditional ecological knowledge about climate change and its consequences for biodiversity conservation in the Himalayas. We explore the critical role traditional ecological knowledge plays in the community based biodiversity conservation and management in the Eastern Himalayas Tibetan village of north-west Yunnan, China, and how these knowledge and culture may influence future decision-making about biodiversity resource and how to go about adapting to climate change. In this project, we first provide an action research example into traditional ecological knowledge, community based biodiversity conservation and management, and climate change. We then proceed to discuss the historic, geographic and social setting of this project as well as the methodology we adopted. Finally we outline our action research findings, which are structured into four themes: beliefs, custom law, ecological knowledge, and management techniques.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Indigenous peoples have rich knowledge of biodiversity. Through participatory action research, the Tibetan villagers themselves will study their traditional knowledge, and the project will reveals the value and significance of biodiversity to the local society: biodiversity is not only a resource problem, but also a social and cultural phenomenon. And the impact of climate change on biodiversity resources is not only an environmental problem, but also an issue of spirit and belief. At the same time, the Tibetan villagers also feel the influence of climate change on their traditional knowledge which links with the biodiversity, some knowledge became inaccurate, some knowledge failed, but in more cases, the project will assist the villagers to use traditional knowledge to conserve the biodiversity and cope with the effects and risks of climate change, which laid the foundation for community-based biodiversity conservation plan.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
The local perception and the traditional knowledge can improve understanding of the influence of climate change to biodiversity, and provide ideas to develop an equitable and effective biodiversity conservation plan to adapt the climate change. For indigenous peoples, compare with the externally driven adaption options, they are more willing to take the community-based biodiversity conservation plan, because such a plan will enable them to apply their traditional knowledge according to the geographical location and environment of their areas, so that their actions to adapt to climate change will more effective.
Sustainability
Discover the traditional organization in the community as a platform for project implementation; use the custom law in the community as a method of project implementation. Through practice, we find that the sustainable development of rural community livelihood projects can be realized by means of traditional community organizations and customary law. Therefore, our project is based on the raditional community organizations, and has trained the raditional community organizations and its members in project management and implementation. Then help the traditional community organizations carry out activities such as managing and issuing small loans to adapt the climate change.
Return on investment
The amount of $25,000 requested will support project activities. Preliminary field trip $2,000; Training Sessions $5,550; Field Work and Capacity Building $8,500; Development of Organizational Training Materials $1,000; Conference $13,000; Final Reporting and Project Evaluation $2,000.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
The project aims to reach a wide audience through an innovative Climate Change Communications campaign of publication and dissemination activities. The dissemination of our research results will assist in the improvement of informed decision-making of policy makers, as well as raise civil society and the general public’s awareness about climate change, and increase the visibility of institutions and funding agencies involved. The project will encourage scientific contribution to the knowledge-base on vulnerability assessments, particularly in regards to the ‘white-spot’ of data lacking from the Himalayan region. Publications will also include information about the adaptation techniques of indigenous people, and new methodologies used in the interfacing of indigenous knowledge and mainstream science. Where possible, project staff will participate in seminars, workshops, and conferences to make presentations of research results and project methodologies.