Contents: Introduction/N.K. Das. 1. Language diversity, indigenous knowledge and biodiversity conservation: the symbiosis/M. Sreenathan. 2. Social science input to Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme/Yogesh Atal. 3. On studying indigenous knowledge/Yogesh Atal. 4. Indigenous knowledge, forest ecosystem and native medicine: vision of biodiversity conservation among the Tribes of Kerala/P.R.G. Mathur. 5. Indigenous knowledge of the medicinal plants in Kullu Valley of Northwestern Himalaya: A case-study/Sakshi Bhandari, Man Singh Rana and S.S. Samant. 6. Indigenous knowledge application for conservation of bio-resource in the Cold Desert of the Northwestern Himalayan/Santaram S. Oinam, Jagdish C. Kuniyal Yashwant S. Rawat, S.C.R. Vishvakarma and Dinesh C. Pandey. 7. Indigenous tribal art: strategy for conservation and promotion/Somnath Chakraverty. 8. Women's NutriBusiness Cooperatives in Kenya: an integrated strategy for sustaining rural livelihoods/Audrey N. Maretzki. 9. Tradition as a modern strategy: indigenous knowledge as local response to globalization in Africa/Geoffrey I. Nwaka. 10. Sahlins' Tribesmen (1968) reconsidered: tribes of highland Orissa in perspective/Georg Pfeffer. 11. BioDiversity, anthropogenic pressure and conservation: the case of the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve/Umesh Kumar. 12. Tribes without forest: a critique of forest and environmental conservation issues/J.J. Roy Burman. 13. Indigenous knowledge, postcolonialism, and indigenous education politics in African perspective/Ladislaus M. Semali. 14. Diversity, pluralism and convergence South Asia and India in perspective/N.K. Das.
"Cultural diversity is closely linked to biodiversity. Humanity's collective knowledge of biodiversity and its use and management rests in cultural diversity; conversely, conserving biodiversity often helps strengthen cultural integrity, beliefs, and values. Task before us is to safeguard cultural and biological diversity of present and future generations. Anthropology's enduring interest in people's knowledge systems has recently attracted the attention of development policymakers and practitioners. 'Indigenous Knowledge' has emerged with the focus on popular participation and planning-from-below. There is greater need to discuss the links between nature and culture and particularly to acknowledge the intangible/tangible heritage of indigenous/tribal people in the world.
This volume is being brought out as a special commemorative volume during the Sixteenth World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) 2009, Kunming, Yunnan, China-27- 31 July 2009. in order to be compatible with the focal theme of "Humanity, Development and Cultural Diversity" of the Sixteenth World Congress IUAES, 2009, we have chosen the somewhat allied theme of Cultural Diversity, Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation to bring together this special volume. In doing so our prime purpose is to present before the world anthropologists a fraction of our contribution towards understanding the larger visions of Humanity, Development and Cultural Diversity.
The chosen themes of Cultural Diversity, Indigenous Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation are too focused to be adequately and justifiably analyzed by the specialists in one discipline. Hence, we approached the colleagues in allied disciplines. All papers focus on lone or more of the issues of the Cultural Diversity, Indigenous Knowledge, and Biodiversity Conservation and in doing so they are not confined to Asia/South Asia alone." (jacket)
