Brazil

Traditional Knowledge Is Essential to Sustainability in the Amazon
By: Meghie Rodrigues
Eos
November 12, 2021
Key Words: Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK), COP26, climate change, fishing, reforestation, local seeds, ILK activism
https://eos.org/articles/traditional-knowledge-is-essential-to-sustainability-in-the-amazon
At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties, ILK was given special attention. It is more productive to conservation efforts to work with local communities than try to impose generic policies from afar. Indigenous Peoples collaborate for sustainable solutions to fishing, reforestation and re-introduction of native seed varietals, and self-promotion.

Painting with fire: Cerrado land managers learn from traditional peoples
By: Sarah Sax and Mauricio Angelo
March 3, 2020
Mongabay
Keywords: Biodiversity, conservation, drought, dry forests, environment, fires, forest degradation, forest destruction, forests, governance, government, green, Indigenous culture, parks, savannas, Traditional peoples, wildfires
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/painting-with-fire-cerrado-land-managers-learn-from-traditional-peoples/
Land managers in Brazil are utilizing proscribed burns, just as Indigenous peoples have for thousands of years. Research shows that these processes are superior to “zero-burn” policies as practiced by European and American foresters. Proscribed burning leads to less damaging wildfires and actually enhances the ecosystem.

The Use of Local Ecological Knowledge as a Complementary Approach to Understand the Temporal and Spatial Patterns of Fishery Resources Distribution
By: Mauro Sergio Pinheiro Lima, Jorge Eduardo Lins Oliveira, Marcelo Francisco de Nóbrega, & Priscila Fabiana Macedo Lopes
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13:30
2017
Key words: Artisanal fishing, Fisheries management, Local ecological knowledge, Northeast Brazil, Caranx crysos
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455079/
Acquiring fast and accurate information on ecological patterns of fishery resources is a basic first step for their management. However, some countries may lack the technical and/or the financial means to undergo traditional scientific samplings to get such information; therefore affordable and reliable alternatives need to be sought. Authors compared two different approaches to identify occurrence patterns and catch for three main fish species caught with bottom-set gillnets used by artisanal fishers from northeast Brazil: scientific on-board record data of small-scale fleet, and interviews with small-scale fishers on Local Ecological Knowledge.

Engaging Indigenous and Academic Knowledge on Bees in the Amazon: Implications for Environmental Management and Transdisciplinary Research
By: Simone Athayde, John Richard Stepp, & Wemerson C. Ballester
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 12:26
2016
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4915142/
This paper contributes to the development of theoretical and methodological approaches that aim to engage indigenous, technical and academic knowledge for environmental management. The authors present an exploratory analysis of a transdisciplinary project carried out to identify and contrast indigenous and academic perspectives on the relationship between the Africanized honey bee and stingless bee species in the Brazilian Amazon.

Ethnoichthyology of the Indigenous Truká People, Northeast Brazil
By: Carlos Alberto Batista Santos & Rômulo Romeu Nóbrea Alves
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 12:1
2016
Key words: Ethnobiology, Ethnozoology, Fisheries, São Francisco River, Traditional Knowledge
https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13002-015-0076-5
Historically, fishing is an important activity for riverine communities established along the São Francisco River, including indigenous communities. In the present study, authors researched fishing activities in two villages of the Truká ethnic group, both located in the State of Pernambuco along the sub-middle section of the São Francisco River, Northeast Brazil. They recorded the richness and uses of the fished species and the ecological knowledge on these species, the fishing techniques employed and the perception of the indigenous people regarding current environmental impacts on the São Francisco River that influence local fishing.

Perceptions of Environmental Change and Use of Traditional Knowledge to Plan Riparian Forest Restoration with Relocated Communities in Alcântara, Eastern Amazon
By: Danielle Celentano, Guillaume Xavier Rousseau, Vera Lex Engel, Cristiane Lima Façanha, Elivaldo Moreira de Oliverira, & Emanoel Gomes de Moura
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 10:11
2014
Key words: Pepital River, Alcântara (Brazil), Forest Restoration, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Human Relocation
https://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1746-4269-10-11
Riparian forests provide ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being. The Pepital River is the main water supply for Alcântara (Brazil) and its forests are disappearing. This is affecting water volume and distribution in the region. Promoting forest restoration is imperative. In deprived regions, restoration success depends on the integration of ecology, livelihoods and traditional knowledge (TEK). In this study, an interdisciplinary research framework is proposed to design riparian forest restoration strategies based on ecological data, TEK and social needs.

An ecological integrity assessment of a Brazilian Atlantic Forest watershed based on surveys of stream health and local farmers' perceptions: implications for management
By: Renato Silvano, Shana Udvardy, Marta Ceroni, and Joshua Farley
Ecological Economics
2005
Key words: local ecological knowledge, forest management, watershed, stream quality, biological conservation, Brazil
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800904003878
In a case study located in the Macabu River watershed in Brazil, authors integrate local ecological knowledge with Western science for improved conservation efforts.