Introduction
The value of traditional practices has been recognized and emphasized
at the international level. Article 8 (j) of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (United Nations, 1992), which was presented during
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
and ratified by 168 countries, addresses “respect, preservation and
maintenance of traditional knowledge relevant for the conservation
and sustainable use of biological diversity and promotion of the
wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders
of traditional knowledge.” The United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (United Nations, 1994) requires parties to “protect,
integrate, enhance and validate traditional and local knowledge,
know-how and practices” (Article 17-1 (c)). International forest organizations
have recognized the contributions of traditional forest
knowledge (TFK) to sustainable forest management (SFM), deeming
TFK “a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, handed
down through generations by cultural transmission and evolving
by adaptive processes, about the relationships of living beings (including
humans) with one another and with their forest environment”
(UNFF, 2004). The Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and
the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests agreed on a number of
proposals related to TFK and forest management, biodiversity conservation
and knowledge sharing.
Scientific interest in TFK has also increased. In 2005, the International
Union of Forest Research Organizations established the Task