Indigenous Knowledge, Forest Management and Forest Policy in South Asia

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About the Book Reflecting the latest findings of a large research project that began about a decade ago this volume, the 5th in the ongoing "Man and Forest" series, highlights the relevance of 'indigenous knowledge' of various South Asian tribal and rural communities in the sustainable management of forests and local resources - more specially against the growing challenges of economic development vis-a-vis environmental hazards and a declining resource base.

Not only the volume reiterates the relevance of indigenous knowledge as a development tool in this age of standardized, modern know-how applications, but also illustrates its enormous impact on the social development in tribal and rural areas. Not just in India but in the adjacent countries of Nepal and Bhutan as well are analysed forest policy issues. In these countries, particularly in the current scenario of regulation, the authors emphasise of both collective initiatives at the grassroots level and securing the locally accepted patterns of livelihood for the tribal and village communities. The volume includes widely varied case studies on the role of indigenous knowledge in forestry, community living, and joint management of local natural resources.

This book consists of 17 papers, based on cross-cultural, interdisciplinary investigations of well-known scholars of forest management, ethno-botanists, social anthropologists and of the members of several local NGOs involved in either community forestry or village development programmes.

About the Authors Klaus Seeland is a reputed political scientist and sociologist who has been researching in South Asia on socio-cultural aspects of forests, comparative studies in resource management, perception and local knowledge for over twenty years now. Currently, he is Senior Lecturer at the Chair of Forest Policy and Forest Economics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, and Reader in sociology at the University of Konstanz, Germany.

Franz Schmithusen, Professor of Forest Policy and Forest Economics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) since 1984, is an eminent scholar with varied research concerns that include law and public administration, land tenure and utilisation rights, and combined resources and management systems.

Preface IN the research network 'Man & Forest', to which most of the contributions to this volume refer, many institutions, individuals, scientific researchers and administrators have been involved. Other contributions to this book have included inspiring additions to what the organisers of the Kathmandu workshop in 1998 focused on and what the title of this book stands for: Indigenous Knowledge, Forest Management and Forest Policy in South Asia. Many of the contributors shared a keen interest in the meaning and relevance of these topics, especially in the Nepalese context. Some were involved as practitioners in forest-oriented development co-operation. Others were members of local non-governmental organisations, involved in community forestry or village development programmes.

The proceedings of the international seminar in this volume reflect the state-of-the-art research activities that evolved from the first conference in this research network which was held in March 1995 in New Delhi. The contributions to this earlier international seminar were published as volume 1 in the 'Man and Forest Series' under the title 'Man in the Forest - Local Knowledge and Sustainable Management of Forests and Natural Resources in Tribal Communities in India'. In the second phase, the research venture Man & Forest (1997-99) sought to communicate indigenous knowledge of forest and natural resource use management in a wider Himalayan perspective to a growing scientific community which takes an interest in local and indigenous knowledge. More partners joined the network who either perceived indigenous knowledge as a development tool or wanted to contribute to the preservation of tribal cultural identity and know-how in an age of standardised modern approaches and rapid social change.

**Contents and Sample Pages**