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Indigenous methods of seed selection and preservation on the Andaman Islands in India, by A.K. Bandyopadhyay and G.S. Saha
This article focuses on farmers' ingenuity in devising ways to obtain sufficient seeds under extremely difficult conditions. As there is no organized system of seed supply in the extremely remote, humid and tropical Andaman and Nicobar Islands Territory in India, individual farmers have developed techniques for selecting and preserving the seeds of the most important food crops. The article also discusses a number of policy implications.

Indigenous knowledge of yak breeding and cross-breeding among nomads in western Sichuan, China, by Ning Wu
The value of indigenous knowledge of yak breeding and cross-breeding have been largely ignored in the assessment of the potential for pastoral development on the Tibetan Plateau. This article is based on first-hand information obtained from indigenous nomadic societies living in western Sichuan, and explores the traditional strategies and indigenous knowledge of the yak herders. The author elucidates the major challenges to take into account when the best aspects of these traditional systems are to be incorporated into modernization plans.

In Memoriam: D. Michael Warren, by Guus W. von Liebenstein and Jan L. Slikkerveer

Biodiversity conservation and indigenous knowledge: rethinking the role of anthropology, by Landon Myer
Although the general role of anthropology within conservation initiatives is well-established, indigenous knowledge is traditionally seen as apolitical and non-economic. This is an inaccurate image, for a critical analysis of the global relations of biodiversity shows that indigenous knowledge, like biodiversity itself, is a valuable resource. To find a balance between the dominant discourses of Western science and more subordinate voices, such as what the author terms the 'indigenous ecology movement', anthropologists must place their studies of human ecology within a broader political and economic context. A more holistic, 'landscape' orientation is mooted as one approach to this contextualisation.

Focus on: Comprehensive social forestry programme

New: Guest column by Huseyin Polat, ILO-INDISCO programme coordinator