PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #50: Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Presiding: J. Ford
Wednesday, August 7. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Greenlee Meeting Room, TCC.

In search of cultural refugia: The role of cultural knowledge in ecological restoration .

Garibaldi, Ann^*,1, Beckwith, Brenda^*,1, ¹ University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT- Ecological research and restoration methodologies frequently reduce cultural landscape knowledge, both of First Nations and others, to archivable material that can be recorded and shelved for undetermined projects. In future uses such as citing traditional management practices for specific restoration procedures (e.g. prescribed burning) the original knowledge holders are not given credit and contemporary local peoples are rarely consulted. What then should be the role of cultural knowledge in ecological management and restoration? We suggest a new approach, one that views cultural landscape knowledge and the holders of that information as refugia - cultural refugia. Just as biological refugia are havens from disturbance and serve as areas for the repopulation of species, cultural refugia serve as locations for the expansion of traditional ecological knowledge and landscape memory. The restoration of ecological landscape conditions should include the recognition and repopulation of cultural identity, and if possible, appropriate cultural use. We will explore the concept of cultural refugia and how it applies to contemporary ethnoecological studies and restoration using examples from two case studies in British Columbia, one from a terrestrial and one from an aquatic habitat.

KEY WORDS: Traditional ecological knowledge