Science, traditional ecological knowledge, and anthropology: managing the impacts of mining in Papua New Guinea
Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
[Extract] More than a decade of monitoring the social impacts of mining required numerous collaborative relationships. One instance of this provided a more complicated example of collaborative research as it involved working directly and concurrently with three distinct groups of people, each group not only having different conceptions of the problems at issue but also drawing on a different knowledge base and occasionally on quite distinct epistemologies. We do not want to exaggerate this latter distinction, as we think that has happened too often in studies of “traditional ecological knowledge.” The Papua New Guinean people with whom we have worked are in many ways as empiricist as any Western scientists, and they usually base their knowledge on careful observation. They also test to see if something works and to verify claims made by others. Just one example is evidence—the willingness of Papua New Guineans to plant new crops and adopt new gardening techniques. Bourke (2009) estimates that prior to European settlement, some 170 plant species were cultivated for food (2009: 15). Since about 1870, 90 food crop species and more than 2,200 varieties have been introduced (2009: 18). Bourke’s surveys revealed that the embrace of these new foods was so rapid that in many instances people now believe they are indigenous crops.
Journal
N/A
Publication Name
N/A
Volume
6
ISBN/ISSN
2152-4009
Edition
N/A
Issue
N/A
Pages Count
20
Location
N/A
Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
Publisher Url
N/A
Publisher Location
N/A
Publish Date
N/A
Url
N/A
Date
N/A
EISSN
N/A
DOI
10.1353/cla.2013.0024