Environment-Biodiversity-Solutions

WHY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE ARE VITAL TO PROTECTING FUTURE GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY

Ensia 11/13/2019

To the outsider, the forest was dense and undisturbed. But to the U’wa, it was an all-in-one supermarket, farm and pharmacy. The root of one plant cured stomachaches, he said; the leaf of another was an anesthetic that left the mouth numb in a few seconds. Betancaro pointed out shrubs that were good for food, a flower that glowed in the dark, fruit that was sweeter than honey. Everything, from vines to make ropes to leaves that served as plates, had a use.

Betencaro explained how the U’wa protected their forest by following strict rules, only taking fallen fruit, never cutting some trees, hunting certain animals at precise times of the year and having core areas into which only shamans were allowed.

“That way there is enough for all. Our role [on Earth] is to protect the forest,” he told us.

Public Lands: The National Bison Range

Native American Net Roots 11/17/2019

While zoologists and Congressmen were lamenting the passing of the buffalo, there were a few Indians and others who were trying to do something to save the Buffalo People. In 1871, Walking Coyote, a Pend d’Oreille from the Flathead Reservation in western Montana, killed his wife—some say he killed her because of the furies in his head—and then fled across the Rocky Mountains to the Blackfoot. While living among the Blackfoot he took a Blackfoot wife, but he still found that he missed the mountains of the Mission Valley. Noticing his deep melancholy, some of the Blackfoot suggested that he might capture a few buffalo and take them back to the Flathead Reservation as a kind of peace offering. Since there were no buffalo on the Flathead Reservation, he might be forgiven for his crime and welcomed home as a hero. Walking Coyote returned to the Flathead Reservation in 1872 , bringing some buffalo calves with him to start his own herd.

City bees: allotments and gardens can help arrest decline – study

The Guardian 1/14/2019

The first research to examine all types of land use in cities has identified pollinators’ favourite places and flowers, many of which are often considered weeds. A team of more than 50 people spent two years examining pollinators and plants in Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading.
The results enabled them to work out the best ways to support a rich mix of pollinator species that will be resilient to climate change and other challenges. The best strategy is increasing the number of allotments, the report says. Planting preferred flowers in gardens also helps, as does mowing grass in public parks less frequently, allowing flowers to bloom.