“One of the promising areas of work of Terralingua is the development of an index of vitality of traditional ecological knowledge. Especially since the CBD came into force almost two decades ago, the value of traditional ecological knowledge has been increasingly acknowledged; but there is also global awareness that it is rapidly disappearing. Yet no systematic approaches have been developed to measure and assess the processes of change in the vitality and functionality of traditional ecological knowledge. Unless this gap is filled, there is no solid way of tackling the problem of its erosion and loss. Terralingua’s contribution in this field is critical to many programmes that focus on or integrate traditional ecological knowledge as part of conservation and sustainable livelihood approaches.”
by Gonzalo Oviedo Senior Adviser, Social Policy IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature