TY - JOUR

T1 - Factors influencing local ecological knowledge maintenance in Mediterranean watersheds

T2 - Insights for environmental policies

AU - Iniesta-Arandia, Irene

AU - del Amo, David García

AU - García-Nieto, Ana Paula

AU - Piñeiro, Concepción

AU - Montes, Carlos

AU - Martín-López, Berta

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2014.

PY - 2015/5

Y1 - 2015/5

N2 - Local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been found to be one of the main bridges to manage biocultural diversity. We analyzed the factors affecting LEK maintenance and transmission in a Mediterranean watershed. We used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the agricultural LEK in three different dimensions: biological, soil and water management, and forecasting. We found that the main factors for its maintenance were the respondent's time living in the area and the social relationships established among farmers, which involved partner collaboration and farmer information exchanges. Protected areas also played a key role for maintaining the LEK associated with soil and water management. Finally, we found that outmigration and mechanization were the most important indirect drivers of change underlying LEK erosion. We suggest that environmental policies should focus on promoting this experiential knowledge, considering both intergenerational renewal and the gendered aspects of this knowledge.

AB - Local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been found to be one of the main bridges to manage biocultural diversity. We analyzed the factors affecting LEK maintenance and transmission in a Mediterranean watershed. We used a mixed methods approach to evaluate the agricultural LEK in three different dimensions: biological, soil and water management, and forecasting. We found that the main factors for its maintenance were the respondent's time living in the area and the social relationships established among farmers, which involved partner collaboration and farmer information exchanges. Protected areas also played a key role for maintaining the LEK associated with soil and water management. Finally, we found that outmigration and mechanization were the most important indirect drivers of change underlying LEK erosion. We suggest that environmental policies should focus on promoting this experiential knowledge, considering both intergenerational renewal and the gendered aspects of this knowledge.

KW - Drivers of change

KW - Gender

KW - Protected area

KW - Semi-arid areas

KW - Traditional agriculture

KW - Traditional ecological knowledge

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84939878786&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/e5e9a145-abf5-3f9c-8072-b080eb220329/

U2 - 10.1007/s13280-014-0556-1

DO - 10.1007/s13280-014-0556-1

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 25286985

AN - SCOPUS:84939878786

VL - 44

SP - 285

EP - 296

JO - Ambio

JF - Ambio

SN - 0044-7447

IS - 4

ER -