Currently the focus of a heated debate among indigenous peoples, human rights advocates, crop breeders, pharmaceutical companies, conservationists, social scientists, and lawyers, the proposal would allow impoverished people in biologically rich areas to realize an economic return from resources under their care. Monetary compensation could both validate their knowledge and provide them with an equitable reward for sharing it, thereby compensating biological stewardship and encouraging conservation.

"Technological capability has led, through Euro-American global domination, to the muting of other cultural views and values, even threatening their continued existence. There is a growing realization that the diversity of knowledge systems demand respect; some refer to them in a conservation idiom as alternative knowledge banks. The scientific perspective is only one. We now have many examples of the soundness of local science and practices, some previously considered 'primitive' and in need of change. However, this book goes beyond demonstrating the soundness of local science and arguing for the incorporation of others' knowledge in development, to maintain that we need to look quizzically at the foundations of science itself and further challenge its hegemony, not only over local communities in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and elsewhere but also the global community.--Publisher

Originally published in 2004. Local knowledge reflects many generations of experience and problem solving by people around the world, increasingly affected by globalizing forces. Such knowledge is far more sophisticated than development professionals previously assumed and, as such, represents an immensely valuable resource. A growing number of governments and international development agencies are recognizing that local-level knowledge and organizations offer the foundation for new participatory models of development that are both cost-effective and sustainable, and ecologically and socially sound. This book provides a timely overview of new directions and new approaches to investigating the role of rural communities in generating knowledge founded on their sophisticated understandings of their environments, devising mechanisms to conserve and sustain their natural resources, and establishing community-based organizations that serve as forums for identifying problems and dealing with them through local-level experimentation, innovation, and exchange of information with other societies. These studies show that development activities that work with and through local knowledge and organizations have several important advantages over projects that operate outside them. Local knowledge informs grassroots decision-making, much of which takes place through indigenous organizations and associations at the community level as people seek to identify and determine solutions to their problems.

Discusses the suitability of mainstream forms of intellectual propety rights to indigenous knowledge and efforts to reconcile the Western concept of intellectual property with indigenous knowledge.

There has been a growth in the use, acceptance, and popularity of indigenous knowledge. High rates of poverty and a widening economic divide is threatening the accessibility to western scientific knowledge in the developing world where many indigenous people live. Consequently, indigenous knowledge has become a potential source for sustainable development in the developing world. The Handbook of Research on Theoretical Perspectives on Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Developing Countries presents interdisciplinary research on knowledge management, sharing, and transfer among indigenous communities. Providing a unique perspective on alternative knowledge systems, this publication is a critical resource for sociologists, anthropologists, researchers, and graduate-level students in a variety of fields.

Indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) are a combination of knowledge systems encompassing technology; social, economic, and philosophical learning; or educational, legal, and governance systems. The lack of documentation of these systems presents a problem as the knowledge is fading away over time. In response, it is essential that policies and strategies are undertaken to ensure that these systems are protected and sustained for generations to come. The Handbook of Research on Protecting and Managing Global Indigenous Knowledge Systems is a comprehensive reference source that works to preserve indigenous knowledge systems through research. Focusing on key concepts such as tools of indigenous knowledge management and African indigenous symbols, the book preserves and promotes indigenous knowledge through research and fills the void staff and students within the field of indigenous knowledge systems face with the current lack of research and resources. This book is ideal for university students, lecturers, researchers, academicians, policymakers, historians, sociologists, and anyone interested in the field of indigenous knowledge systems.

Discover how conservation can be made more effective through strengthening links between science research, policy and practice. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.