Abstract
This chapter provides qualitative information such as customary rules related to forest use and ecosystem management with the goal of exploring the possibility of integrating the ways that local people modify forests into new biodiversity conservation programs. Customary rules related to forest conservation guide the actions of villagers, such as rules related to the forest reserve, the use of white beech (G. moluccana)—a tree used to make canoes—and sago palm leaves (Metroxylon spp.), an essential roof and wall material in traditional houses. These decisions suggest that local leadership, especially the leadership of the chief and church leaders combined with traditional ecological knowledge of local people, plays an important role in conservation. However, the recent increase in the size of the human population and commodification of resources has caused the people of Roviana to face the risk of overexploitation of natural resources and to drive them to integrate Western active conservation programs into their resource management techniques.
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Furusawa, T. (2016). Customary Rules and Wisdom Related to Conservation. In: Living with Biodiversity in an Island Ecosystem. Ethnobiology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-904-2_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-904-2_9
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