Combining Science and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Monitoring Populations for Co-Management

Copyright

2004

Traditional ecological knowledge informs sustainable customary wildlife harvests by Indigenous peoples. Short scientific studies in which traditional monitoring methods are calibrated against population abundance could make it possible to mesh traditional ecological knowledge with scientific inferences of prey population dynamics. This paper analyzes the traditional monitoring techniques of catch per unit effort and body condition, the aim of which is to allow Indigenous wildlife users to critically evaluate scientific predictions on their own terms and test sustainability using their own forms of adaptive management.