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Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Shifting Agriculture of Bulang People in Yunnan, China

Received: 3 May 2020    Accepted: 26 May 2020    Published: 8 June 2020
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Abstract

Land-use and land-cover changes directly impact biological diversity, and may cause land degradation by altering ecosystem services and livelihood support systems, thereby disrupting the socio-cultural practices and institutions associated with managing those biophysical systems. The most important is the gradual disappearance of human’s traditional ecological knowledge and cultural diversity. Xishuangbanna is one of regions that have the richest biodiversity and cultural diversity in the world. In recent years, academic scholars, government departments at different levels and media have increasingly paid close attention on the relationship between rubber cultivation and biodiversity in Xishuangbanna. However, such attention on the relationship between rubber plantation and cultural diversity is few. Conclusively, social and cultural practice on natural resource management carried out by local people and relevant institutions are greatly changing in the context of implementing rubber plantation. During this process, traditional ecological knowledge is also experiencing changes. The paper will elaborate impacts from the rubber plantation on Bulang society in Xishuangbanna, explore changes on local subsistence, social and cultural practice and relevant institutions, and further analyze relationships between the rubber plantation, cultural diversity and traditional ecological knowledge, and threats and challenges faced by Bulang people. Through the case study of Bulang people, we see that the traditional ecological knowledge not only includes natural resource management and genetic resource protection, but also recognition of ethnical identities and heritage of biological and cultural diversity.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 9, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13
Page(s) 51-58
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Shifting Agriculture, Rubber Plantation, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Agro-biodiversity, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Lun Yin, Misiani Zachary, Yanyan Zheng, Xiaohan Zhang, Antonine Sakwa. (2020). Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Shifting Agriculture of Bulang People in Yunnan, China. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 9(3), 51-58. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13

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    ACS Style

    Lun Yin; Misiani Zachary; Yanyan Zheng; Xiaohan Zhang; Antonine Sakwa. Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Shifting Agriculture of Bulang People in Yunnan, China. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2020, 9(3), 51-58. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13

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    AMA Style

    Lun Yin, Misiani Zachary, Yanyan Zheng, Xiaohan Zhang, Antonine Sakwa. Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Shifting Agriculture of Bulang People in Yunnan, China. Am J Environ Prot. 2020;9(3):51-58. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13,
      author = {Lun Yin and Misiani Zachary and Yanyan Zheng and Xiaohan Zhang and Antonine Sakwa},
      title = {Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Shifting Agriculture of Bulang People in Yunnan, China},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {9},
      number = {3},
      pages = {51-58},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20200903.13},
      abstract = {Land-use and land-cover changes directly impact biological diversity, and may cause land degradation by altering ecosystem services and livelihood support systems, thereby disrupting the socio-cultural practices and institutions associated with managing those biophysical systems. The most important is the gradual disappearance of human’s traditional ecological knowledge and cultural diversity. Xishuangbanna is one of regions that have the richest biodiversity and cultural diversity in the world. In recent years, academic scholars, government departments at different levels and media have increasingly paid close attention on the relationship between rubber cultivation and biodiversity in Xishuangbanna. However, such attention on the relationship between rubber plantation and cultural diversity is few. Conclusively, social and cultural practice on natural resource management carried out by local people and relevant institutions are greatly changing in the context of implementing rubber plantation. During this process, traditional ecological knowledge is also experiencing changes. The paper will elaborate impacts from the rubber plantation on Bulang society in Xishuangbanna, explore changes on local subsistence, social and cultural practice and relevant institutions, and further analyze relationships between the rubber plantation, cultural diversity and traditional ecological knowledge, and threats and challenges faced by Bulang people. Through the case study of Bulang people, we see that the traditional ecological knowledge not only includes natural resource management and genetic resource protection, but also recognition of ethnical identities and heritage of biological and cultural diversity.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Shifting Agriculture of Bulang People in Yunnan, China
    AU  - Lun Yin
    AU  - Misiani Zachary
    AU  - Yanyan Zheng
    AU  - Xiaohan Zhang
    AU  - Antonine Sakwa
    Y1  - 2020/06/08
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 51
    EP  - 58
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20200903.13
    AB  - Land-use and land-cover changes directly impact biological diversity, and may cause land degradation by altering ecosystem services and livelihood support systems, thereby disrupting the socio-cultural practices and institutions associated with managing those biophysical systems. The most important is the gradual disappearance of human’s traditional ecological knowledge and cultural diversity. Xishuangbanna is one of regions that have the richest biodiversity and cultural diversity in the world. In recent years, academic scholars, government departments at different levels and media have increasingly paid close attention on the relationship between rubber cultivation and biodiversity in Xishuangbanna. However, such attention on the relationship between rubber plantation and cultural diversity is few. Conclusively, social and cultural practice on natural resource management carried out by local people and relevant institutions are greatly changing in the context of implementing rubber plantation. During this process, traditional ecological knowledge is also experiencing changes. The paper will elaborate impacts from the rubber plantation on Bulang society in Xishuangbanna, explore changes on local subsistence, social and cultural practice and relevant institutions, and further analyze relationships between the rubber plantation, cultural diversity and traditional ecological knowledge, and threats and challenges faced by Bulang people. Through the case study of Bulang people, we see that the traditional ecological knowledge not only includes natural resource management and genetic resource protection, but also recognition of ethnical identities and heritage of biological and cultural diversity.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Center for Ecological Civilization, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China; Southwest Regional Ecological Civilization and Environmental Rule of Law Research Center, Leshan Normal University, Leshan, China

  • Kenya Meteorological Department, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Nairobi, Kenya; Center for Biodiversity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Kunming, China

  • Yunnan People’s Publishing House Ltd, Kunming, China

  • Center for Biodiversity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Kunming, China

  • School of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, South Eastern Kenya University, Nairobi, Kenya

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