Including traditional knowledge in nature management
Integrating traditional knowledge when working with NBS can foster sustainable land management, deepen ecological insight, and strengthen biodiversity.
Specific Advice
Efforts to preserve and share traditional knowledge can support knowledge exchange that benefits ecosystems and communities alike. Enabling collaborative partnerships that respect and learn from traditional and indigenous methods allows NBS to be implemented in ways that are culturally inclusive and ecologically sound. This approach honors diverse perspectives while also strengthening the resilience and adaptability of natural landscapes.
Policies that recognize and amplify traditional knowledge, from for example indigenous communities, can create synergies between longstanding wisdom and modern ecological efforts. Supporting the preservation and sharing of traditional practices can deepen the understanding of natural systems and encourage sustainable land management.
Good to Know
Involvement and engagement processes are often facilitated in the majority (national) language. This can be a barrier to involvement and inclusion of traditional knowledge.
Where, how and when to meet as part of involvement processes connected to NBS can also influence how well traditional groups and knowledge is integrated into the process.
Context
Many nature-based approaches resemble traditional ways of managing nature. While several policies, such as the Norwegian Biodiversity Act, explicitly call for the inclusion of traditional knowledge, practical barriers remain. For example, there is a lack of understanding and guidance on how traditional knowledge could fit into current policy instruments and governance systems. It is a barrier that public management are used to working with standardised formats such as maps, while traditional knowledge is not necessarily available in these formats.
Indigenous communities’ close relationship with nature can make them significantly impacted by environmental change. Such communities have developed advanced land management practices and ecological knowledge crucial for maintaining delicate ecosystem balances. Integrating this traditional knowledge into nature management strategies is therefore essential.
For example, a study in Norway demonstrated that integrating Sámi reindeer herders' traditional knowledge into land management can effectively support sustainable grazing and reduce land-use conflicts. By involving Sámi herders in decision-making, planners gained critical insights into managing ecosystems for biodiversity, as these communities have cultivated deep ecological knowledge that aligns with natural cycles.
Examples and Cases
Nordic examples of using traditional knowledge on NBS:
#FINLAND – Snowchange Cooperative working with local and Indigenous communities of the Northern regions
Established in 2000, Snowchange Cooperative (Lumimuutos osuuskunta) is an independent cooperative of local fishermen, breeders and entrepreneurs that later expanded to researchers and other specialists. Supported by diverse funds, Snowchange Cooperative has contributed to ecological restoration projects in across Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and other territories in and outside Europe involving local communities. Snowchange Cooperative is a network of local and Indigenous cultures around the world. For more than 20 years they have participated in global discussions on climate change, biodiversity and Indigenous and traditional knowledge.
More information about the Snowchange Cooperative can be found here:
Snowchange Cooperative (in English): http://www.snowchange.org/
Lumimuutos osuuskunta (in Finnish): https://www.lumi.fi/
Rewilding Europe, Jukajoki restoration, an example of Snowchange work: https://rewildingeurope.com/rew-project/jukajoki-restoration-project/
Life in the Cyclic World: A Compendium of Traditional Knowledge from the Eurasian North. http://www.snowchange.org/pages/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/life-in-the-cyclic-world-final-250516.pdf
#FINLAND – Näätämö river collaborative management with Skolt Sámi indigenous peoples in Finland
The indigenous communities are one of the most vulnerable groups to the impacts of climate change as it affects their livelihoods that depend on land and water. In the Arctic, Skolt Sámi indigenous people of Finland have been impacted strongly including pollution and changing weather patterns as well as impacts on Atlantic salmon. The Näätämö River Collaborative Management Project established in 2011 is led by Skolt Sámi women of Northern Finland who also document various variables including weather, water levels, land use and occupancy using their traditional knowledge. After a decade of co-management, the achievements include developed plans for river restoration, Sámi land use mapping as well as ecological restoration of 6 km of Kirakkakoski and Vainosjoki rivers and plans for restoration of lake Sevettijärvi.
More information about the river co-management plan can be found here:
Näätämö River Co-management Plan: https://www.commonlandsnet.org/demo/12
Rewilding Europe, Näätämö basin: https://rewildingeurope.com/rew-project/naatamo-basin/
Snowchange cooperative, Collaborative Management along the Näätämö Watershed: https://www.snowchange.org/efforts-in-the-skolt-sami-areas-of-naatamo-watershed-finland/collaborative-management-along-the-naatamo-watershed/
UNFCCC, Näätämö River Collaborative Management Project – Finland: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-for-change/activity-database/n%C3%A4%C3%A4t%C3%A4m%C3%B6-river-collaborative-management-project
Learn more
A compilation of good practices, tools and available data collection initiatives
for the use of local, indigenous and traditional knowledge and practices for adaptation (UNFCCC, 2019). https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/compilation-good-practices-tools-and-available-data-collection-initiatives-use-localInternational Obligations
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework “
The traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous peoples and local communities relevant for the wise use of wetlands and their customary use of wetland resources are documented, respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the implementation of the Convention, with a full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities at all relevant levels.”.Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
“Ensure the full, equitable, inclusive, effective and gender-responsive representation and participation in decision-making, and access to justice and information related to biodiversity by indigenous peoples and local communities, respecting their cultures and their rights over lands, territories, resources, and traditional knowledge, as well as by women and girls, children and youth, and persons with disabilities and ensure the full protection of environmental human rights defenders”.