Abstract
Traditional environmental knowledge (usually imparted orally) is being lost from many regions of the world, requiring novel forms of transmission if this situation is to be redressed. Loss of this knowledge may be a significant contributory factor towards ecological decline. Undoubtedly, disruption to ecosystems and societies that depend on these has impacted on traditional land management practices, with negative ramifications for biodiversity. From an environmental perspective, scientists in northern Australia need to understand traditional Aboriginal methods of ‘caring for country’, such as burning regimes, so that these can be incorporated into strategies today for maintaining Australia’s rich biodiversity. However, information exchange should be two-way: as well as learning from local people, science can in turn benefit people who may have little experience of, for example, invasive species. The challenge is how can the complexity of biological knowledge from within different ontologies be represented and integrated in a way that it can be of use to scientists and local people, in order to ensure a sustainable future? The main aim of this study was to record existing local knowledge of biodiversity for the community of Aurukun (far north Queensland), integrating this knowledge with scientific data, while giving parity to both knowledge systems and protecting intellectual property rights. A cross-cultural collaboration between community members and ethnobiologists resulted in development of the Aurukun Ethnobiology Database. An interdisciplinary approach was taken to effectively model autochthonous biological knowledge and scientific data to create a database with a number of practical applications.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the Wik, Wik-Way and Kugu people of Aurukun who collaborated in this project and Aurukun Shire Council, Aurukun Health Clinic (Queensland Health), Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation (especially Nick Smith and Dr. Jenny Carter), Emma Ignjic, James Cook University, and Koolkan School for their support. We would also like to thank the Thriplow Trust who provided initial funding for fieldwork through the Centre for Economic Botany, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the School of Pharmacy, University of London, for their studentship. We are also indebted to British Airways who awarded international flights under their Assisting Conservation Scheme, the Hunt Institute for receipt of the Lawrence Memorial Award, and the Richard Cannell Travel Fund for assistance with fieldwork costs.
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Edwards, S.E., Heinrich, M. Redressing cultural erosion and ecological decline in a far North Queensland aboriginal community (Australia): the Aurukun ethnobiology database project. Environ Dev Sustain 8, 569–583 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-006-9056-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-006-9056-1