Indigenous Knowledge
and
Development Monitor

Contents IKDM 7-3, November 1999

Tables and graphs, however, always appear in their entirety, as they often contain
essential information which is not provided in the article itself.

General & Communications | Articles | IKDM 7-3 as PDF file

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Articles
Editorial Biodiversity, traditional medicine and the sustainable use of indigenous medicinal plants in Indonesia by Walter R. Erdelen, Kusnaka Adimihardja, H. Moesdarsono, Sidik Traditional medicine may be seen as a product of the twofold wealth of Indonesia:its biodiversity and its cultural diversity. With a view to maintaining this diversity and ensuring the long-term future of the country’s health care system, Indonesia needs to devise a programme for the sustainable use of medicinal plants. The authors have identified seven urgent needs. Understanding interactions between indigenous knowledge and scientific information by Oscar Ortiz How can indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge best be integrated, in the interests of sustainable development? The first requirement is to understand the interaction between farmers’ existing knowledge and the new information they need to deal with emerging problems. The author discusses a pest management project in the Peruvian Andes in which a typology of cognitive interactions has been developed, alongside a model for further development. Indigenous knowledge in the Arctic: a review of research and applications by Henry P. Huntington and María E. Fernández-Giménez Indigenous knowledge is the object of increasing attention in the field of Arctic research and policy making. In this article the authors first present an overview of how IK (indigenous knowledge) is being approached in the Arctic, and then indicate ways in which such knowledge might be used in the future, not only for research purposes, but also within the community. Indigenous institutions and resource management in Ghana by Seth Appiah-Opoku and B. Hyma This article examines the nature of indigenous institutions in the Ashanti region of Ghana. It explores beliefs and practices pertaining to resource management, and concludes that these provide a framework for successful resource management in much of the developing world. Focus on: Innovation among resource-poor farmers in Benguet province, the Philippines Terracing with the aid of ‘gravity flow’ In the July 1999 issue of ‘Focus on:’ we presented an example of innovation in soil and water conservation devised in Ethiopia. As we promised then, this ‘Focus on:’ features a local innovation that also makes use of gravity and water flow, this time in the Philippines. After describing this practice, the author examines the concept of innovation itself. She concludes that not only is innovation a useful means of resource management, it also enables farmers to maintain the dynamics of farming. Guest column by Douglas Nakashima and Paul de Guchteneire ‘Science and other systems of knowledge’: A new impetus for indigenous knowledge from the World Conference on Science As a programme specialist for UNESCO’s intersectoral Coastal Regions and Small Islands initiative, Dr Douglas Nakashima has worked among the Inuit and Eeyou (Cree) of Arctic and Subarctic Canada for more than 15 years. Dr Paul de Guchteneire is co-ordinator of the Management of Social Transformations programme of UNESCO. He was previously director of the Steinmetz Archive for social science data in the Netherlands and President of the International Federation of Data Organizations.

For more information, please contact the editor:
Anna van Marrewijk
Nuffic-CIRAN
P.O. Box 29777
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The Netherlands
Tel: +31-70-4260324
Fax: +31-70-4260329/4260399
E-mail: ikdm@nuffic.nl

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