scholarly journals Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and the Environment: The Akan Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
Joseph Kofi Antwi
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Environmental Management Strategies

There are a number of academic studies that suggest that conservational values embedded in religio-cultural thoughts could be used in collaboration with science in finding lasting solutions to the environmental problems. However, despite these abundant studies and advocacy, environmentalists have ignored these in environmental management strategies. It is against this background that this paper examines the relevance of Akan indigenous ecological knowledge to environmental management strategies in Ghana. Three qualitative techniques were employed in this study: key-informant personal interviews, participant observation and focus-group discussion. The paper argues that there are a number of resources and concepts in Akan indigenous knowledge systems that help to conserve the natural environment. It is believed that the sacredness of these conservational resources can contribute to the pursuit of effective ways of curbing the crisis, which is the ultimate objective of policy-makers. In the process, the paper engages through critical analysis the argument for and against integrating Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK), in the quest for finding a lasting solution to the environmental crisis in Ghana. The paper argues that IEK contains vast knowledge and moral values that can inform contemporary conservational strategies. The paper notes that IEK ensures the survival of not only the natural environment but the people as well. The paper therefore challenges Ghanaian environmentalists, ethicists, researchers and policy-makers on the need for a critical engagement with IEK.

Integrating indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure with marine and social science for conservation of bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHANKAR ASWANI ◽  
RICHARD J. HAMILTON
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Lunar Periodicity ◽  
The People ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Sea Tenure ◽  
Bolbometopon Muricatum

Indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure may be integrated with marine and social science to conserve the bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. Three aspects of indigenous ecological knowledge in Roviana were identified as most relevant for the management and conservation of bumphead parrotfish, and studied through a combination of marine science and anthropological methods. These were (1) local claims that fishing pressure has had a significant impact on bumphead parrotfish populations in the Roviana Lagoon; (2) the claim that only small bumphead parrotfish were ever seen or captured in the inner lagoon and that very small fish were restricted to specific shallow inner-lagoon nursery regions; and (3) assertions made by local divers that bumphead parrotfish predominantly aggregated at night around the new moon period and that catches were highest at that time. The research supported claims (1) and (2), but did not support proposition (3). Although the people of the Roviana Lagoon had similar conceptions about their entitlement rights to sea space, there were marked differences among regional villages in their opinions regarding governance and actual operational rules of management in the Lagoon. Contemporary differences in management strategies resulted from people's historical and spatial patterns of settlement across the landscape and adjoining seascapes, and the attendant impact of these patterns on property relations. This was crucial in distinguishing between those villages that held secure tenure over their contiguous sea estates from those that did not. Indigenous ecological knowledge served to (1) verify that the bumphead parrotfish was a species in urgent need of protection; (2) explain how different habitats structured the size distribution of bumphead parrotfish; (3) identify sensitive locations and habitats in need of protection; and (4) explain the effect of lunar periodicity on bumphead parrotfish behaviour and catch rates. Secure customary sea tenure identified locations best suited to bumphead parrotfish management programmes, with a greater likelihood for local participation and programme success. The information was used to establish two marine protected areas in the region for bumphead parrotfish conservation.

scholarly journals Nexus between Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Ecosystem Services: A Socio-Ecological Analysis for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manob Das ◽  
Arijit Das ◽  
Selim Seikh ◽  
Rajiv Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Demographic Attributes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The well-being of the human society cannot be ensured and sustainable unless the flow of Ecosystem Services (ESs) would be matching with their consistent demand. The consistent flow of ESs required sustainable management of ecological resources of the ecosystem. The management of ecosystem can be ensured with variety of approaches. Integration of indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) in management prescription with the view that IEK based extraction of ESs ensures removal of resources from the ecosystem within the limit thereby ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem. Present study is an evaluation to understand the nexus between ESs and IEK for sustainable environmental management. The focus of the study was a tribal dominated socio-ecological patch of Barind Region of Malda district, Eastern India. The assessment of ESs and IEK was based on the data collected from the randomly selected tribal households following the pre-tested questionnaire containing questions on ESs as per millennium ecosystem assessment. The data were analyzed following social preference approach, and statistical tests (Krushkal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). General linear model (GLM) has also been used to examine the impact of socio-demographic attributes on the perceived valuation of ESs. The results revealed that the provisioning ESs (such as water, fuel wood, medical plants) was most preferred followed by cultural and regulating ESs by tribal. Differential importance of ESs was observed among tribal and accounted by gender, education as well as age of the tribe. A gap between the actual accessibility and evaluation of ESs by the tribal communities was also apparent. The socio-demographic attributes have an immense impact on the valuation of ecosystem services and also governed based on the IEK. Various types of indigenous ecological belief systems were closely linked with conservation of ecosystem and sustainable supply of ESs. Present study can contribute to understand socio-ecological nexus with the lens of IEK in tribal dominated ecological landscapes for improved ecosystem and environmental management besides ensuring sustainability of flow of ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Environmental Protection and Corporate Responsibility: The Perspectives of Senior Managers and CxOs in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cubie L.L. Lau ◽  
Zinette Bergman ◽  
Manfred Max Bergman
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Senior Managers ◽  
Chinese Business ◽  
The Government

In the mid-2000s, China’s environmental crisis had become a major social and political ‘hot spot’. In the interest of civic conciliation, national stability, and performance legitimacy, the Chinese government responded by introducing the ‘Scientific Approach to Development’ as part of the 11th Five-Year Plan in 2005. It signaled a significant policy shift, in which the government reoriented China’s national goals away from ‘Growth First’ policies and toward a model of sustainable development. In this study, we explore how Chinese business leaders reacted to this significant policy change. Specifically, our aim is three-fold: (1) to identify how senior managers and CxOs (executives or owners of enterprises, including CEOs, CFOs, CSOs) of Chinese firms responded to the explicit and systemic introduction of environmental management in the 11th Five-Year Plan; (2) examine motivations and justifications associated with their responses; (3) and explore contexts in which different motivations connected to organizational change and its management. In our study, we examine the perspectives of 72 senior managers and CxOs in China. We find that the integration of environmental management and corporate responsibility policies was predominately driven by national, international, and market contexts, and motivated by instrumental, relational, and moral considerations. We identify complex strategies and implementation plans that transformed government directives into multiple and overlapping business strategies. The main contribution of our study is the identification of specific sets of strategies employed by firms to concurrently comply with government directives and seek profits. Broadly speaking, these environmental management strategies are divided into compliance, a pursuit of competitive advantage, and a structural integration of environmental management.

scholarly journals Institutional pressures and corporate environmental management maturity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuwan Gunarathne ◽  
Ki-Hoon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Institutional Pressures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Environmental Management ◽  
Environmental Management Strategies ◽  
Integration Stage

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate environmental management strategies at different environmental management maturity (EMM) stages are influenced by institutional forces in the service sector organizations of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a multiple case study approach in this study. Institutional isomorphic pressures (coercive, mimetic and normative) at different EMM stages were used as the analytical framework. Findings The study finds coercive pressures largely shape the corporate environmental management strategies at the reactive stage while mimetic pressures have the greatest influence on the internal integration stage. Combined mimetic and normative pressures influence the environmental strategies at the external integration stage. Further, it emphasizes the importance of various institutional pressures in propelling the organizations in the developing countries to benefit from higher levels of EMM. Originality/value This paper offers a new theoretical approach that highlights the importance of considering the institutional influence of the top-down process of diffusion and simultaneous counter-process of invention by which the lower level organizational actors shape and change their environmental management practices for corporate EMM.

scholarly journals Las corridas de ganado en Molinos: una propuesta de Etnografía Visual sobre la trashumancia de ganado en los Valles Calchaquíes Septentrionales, Salta, Argentina

ILUMINURAS ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (40) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Jakel ◽  
Laura Teves
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Central Andes ◽  
Visual Ethnography ◽  
South Central ◽  
Spatial Range ◽  
Environmental Management Strategies ◽  
Cattle Management ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

El presente trabajo constituye una aproximación preliminar al estudio de la actividad de las corridas de ganado en el Departamento de Molinos en los Valles Calchaquíes septentrionales, Salta, Argentina. Se toma como caso el evento de la “separada” de animales, que es la culminación del gran evento de la “corrida”, el cual consta de un desarrollo secuenciado y pautado, de alcance temporal y espacial en la región. Se intenta realizar un aporte al estudio de las estrategias de manejo del ambiente en los Valles Calchaquíes salteños septentrionales, a través del caso de las corridas de ganado en Molinos. Al mismo tiempo buscamos testear la aplicabilidad y eficacia de la metodología de la etnografía visual para el estudio de las relaciones hombre – medio, y sus implicancias en la percepción, manejo y movilidad de estas comunidades en su entorno natural y social.Palabras-clave: Manejo de ganado. Relaciones hombre-medio. Etnografía visual. Andes centrales surCattle Management in Molinos: a proposal for Visual Ethnography on the transhumance of cattle in Northern Calchaquí Valleys, Salta, ArgentinaAbstractThis work is a preliminary study of the activity of cattle management in Molinos in the northern Calchaquí Valley, Salta, Argentina. We take as a case of study the event of "separada" of animals, which is the culmination of the great event of the "corrida", which consists of a sequenced development with wide temporal and spatial range in the region. Our proposal tries to make a contribution to the study of environmental management strategies in northern Salta Calchaquí Valleys, through the case of cattle management in Molinos. At the same time we seek to test the applicability of visual ethnography as a strategy to study the perceptions, management and mobility of these communities in their natural and social environment.Key words: Cattle management. Relationships between humans and their environment. Visual ethnography. South central Andes. 

scholarly journals Estrategias de gestión ambiental frente al desarrollo minero-extractivista en el municipio de Quinchía (Risaralda)

2017 ◽  
pp. 135-191
Author(s):  
Yuliana Salazar Duque
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
21St Century ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Environmental Conflicts ◽  
Sustainable Mining ◽  
Environmental Management Strategies ◽  
Palabras Clave

Este artículo tiene como propósito analizar las principales estrategias de gestión ambiental implementadas en el municipio de Quinchía, Risaralda, en especial en los orregimientos de Naranjal e Irra, frente al desarrollo minero extractivista en el siglo xxi. Para tal fin, en primer lugar, se realizó un estado del arte sobre el desarrollo minero extractivista en el contexto nacional, departamental y local en el siglo xxi. Seguidamente se identificaron las estrategias de gestión ambiental en el desarrollo minero, la cuales se concretaron principalmente en marcos normativos y programáticos, que en su mayoría buscan promover un desarrollo minero sostenible asociado fundamentalmente a empresas transnacionales, ocasionando conflictos socioambientales. Palabras clave: Quinchía, extractivismo, minería, gestión ambiental. Abstract: Environmental management strategies to deal with extractivist mining development in the municipality of Quinchía (Risaralda) Abstract: This article aims to analyze in the 21st century the main environmental management strategies implemented in the municipality of Quinchía (Risaralda), especially in the corregimientos of Naranjal and Irra, in front of extractive mining development. To this end, first, a state of the art on extractive mining development was carried out in the national, departmental and local context in the 21st century. Next, environmental management strategies in mining development were identified. These strategies were mainly implemented in normative and programmatic frameworks, most of which seek to promote sustainable mining development, mainly associated with transnational corporations, leading to socio-environmental conflicts. Keywords: Quinchía, extractivism, mining, environmental management.

scholarly journals Assessment of Surface Water Quality of Noyyal River Using Wasp Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
G. Mahalakshm .
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Environmental Management ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Surface Water Quality ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Water Quality Simulation ◽  
Environmental Management Strategies ◽  
Water Environmental Management

The Noyyal River is a tributary of river Cauvery has been one of the most predominant and important rivers of Tamil Nadu. Unfortunately, certain stretches of river Noyyal are polluted due to effluent discharge from the industries and domestic sewage. The effective water environmental management strategies required to be implemented in this river to upgrade the water quality and to ensure sustainable development in the region. The aim of this work was to provide a basis for water environmental management in process of making important decisions. In this study WASP (Water Quality Simulation Program) is used as a model to identify the processes that underlie river water quality problems in a basin. WASP was recommended by EPA used as water quality model. Simulated values of Nitrate (NO3), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Alkalinity and pH demonstrated the accuracy of the model and despite a significant data shortage in the study area. WASP model was found to be an acceptable tool for the assessment of water quality.

scholarly journals Valuing Nature for Wellbeing: Narratives of Socio-ecological Change in Dynamic Intertidal Landscapes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Roberts ◽  
Merryn Thomas ◽  
Nick Pidgeon ◽  
Karen Henwood
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Landscape Change ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Cultural Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Management Strategies ◽  
Study Sites

Contributing to the cultural ecosystem services literature, this paper draws on the in-depth place narratives of two coastal case-study sites in Wales (UK) to explore how people experience and understand landscape change in relation to their sense of place, and what this means for their wellbeing. Our place narratives reveal that participants understand coastal/intertidal landscapes as complex socio-ecological systems filled with competing legitimate claims that are difficult to manage. Such insights suggest that a focus on diachronic integrity (Holland and O’Neill 1996) within place narratives might offer a route to more socially and culturally acceptable environmental management strategies.

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