Rooting conservation in indigenous ways of being
Indigenous ways of being, knowing and engaging with the more-than-human world are radically different from those of most practitioners of mainstream conservation. They often centre healthy spiritual, emotional and material relationships as the source of wellbeing and balance for all living beings.
Contemporary conservation projects rooted in indigenous ontologies are growing and providing lived and empirical evidence for the sustainability of this approach. They are demonstrating how indigenous knowledge can be used as a core compass for conservation decisions rather than a cosmetic add-on.
In this session, we will hear from scholars whose work explores how indigenous and relational ontologies can transform conservation theory and practice.
Bios:
Dr. Eglée Zent
Dr. Eglée Zent is a Venezuelan mother of two wonderful young men, committed to the care and love of the Earth, human and non-human processes and dynamics. She has an eclectic academic formation (art, anthropology, botany, conservation biology). She has conducted Collaborative Action-Research in two tropical ecological systems in Venezuela, the páramos of the high Andes among Parameros and lowland Amazonia among the Jotï, an Amerindian group. She underlines the collective construction of knowledge and focuses on what interests the people involved, especially human-ecological, health and territorial rights. Her approach is trans-disciplinary, with diverse epistemologies, drawing in material and ideological, quantitative and qualitative aspects. She moves in areas labelled as human ecology, local ecologies, ethnobiologies, and ecogony. Formally she has worked since 2000 at the Human Ecology laboratory of the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas.
Dr. Katie Kamelamela
Dr. Katie Kamelamela (Native Hawaiian) is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University’s School of Ocean Futures and a researcher in the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science based in Hilo, Hawaii. She teaches and studies ethnoecology, ecological restoration, Indigenous conceptions of wealth, Indigenous economies and kindness in science.
Her research focuses on historical and contemporary Native Hawaiian Forest plant gathering practices. These recommendations aim to form policies inclusive of community observations within forest restoration management. Methods she engages in highlight being part of and participating in community with Indigenous lifeways is integral to place and practice-based advocacy.
Join Conservation’s Leading Edges, Session 4: Rooting conservation in indigenous ways of being
Conservation’s Leading Edges
This session is part of the In Conversation Series: Conservation’s Leading Edges.
