An Examination of the Access to, and Provision of 'Traditional-Based' Health Services by and for Indigenous Peoples in Vancouver: Creating Balance with Stories (2) Transforming the Cage(38) Biological Invasions and Biocultural Diversity(6) World's of Difference: Local Culture in a Global Age(30) Ndee bini' bida'ilzaahi: Pictures of Apache Land(39) Whitefeather Forest Initiative(29) Forest and Oceans for the Future(13) Medicinal Plants of Antiquity (34) EARTh (Environmental Applications Reference Thesaurus)(11) Dance for the Earth and her Peoples (DEP)(10) Linking Crop Diversity with Food Traditions and Food Security in the Hills of Nepal(17) Local-Level Ecosystem Assessment in India(33) Plant Resources- Traditional Knowledge of Irulars of Northern Tamil Nadu(32) Vanishing Voices for the Great Adamanese(40) Crocodile Rehabilitation, Observance and Conservation (CROC)(9) Tado Cultural Ecology Conservation Project (TCECP)(23) Support of Indigenous Knowledge for the Use and Conservation of Biological Diversity of Ethnic Minorities in Three Ecological Regions in Yunnan, Southwest China(22) Jaru Animals and Plants Project(16) Mapping Aboriginal Cultural Values in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area(42) Wik, Wik-Way & Kugu Ethnobiology Project(31) Traditional Ecological Knowledge Relating to Marine Environment and Fishing on Lihir(27) Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability in the Context of Melanesian Mining Projects(21) Establishing Marine Protected Areas and Spatiotemperal Refugia in the Rovianna and Vona Vona Lagoons, Solmon Islands(12) Biocultural Diversity: Elaborating Theoretical Issues for Communities and Policy Makers(5) Biocultural Diversity: Elaborating Theoretical Issues for Communities and Policy Makers(5) A Review of the Birds, Trees and Fish of Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands (1) Knowledge and Language Revitalization in Hawaii(41) Talking the Walk: Language as the missing ingredient of biodiversity conservaton? An Investigation of plant knowledge in the West Usambara mountains, Tanzania(44) The Significance of Non-Timber Forest Products Utilization and Cultural Practices in Rurual and Urban Households: Implicatons for Biocultural Diversity(25) Community-based documentation of Indigenous Knowledge (IK), awareness and conservation of cultural and genetic diversity of Bottle Gourd in Kitui District in Kenya(37) Bamenda Highlands Forest Project (4) Promotion of Traditional Medicine and Indigenous Cultural Research &African Spirituality(19) Associacao do Povo Indigena Kaapor do Rio Gurupi: Associacao Ka'por; Associacao do Povo Indigena Kaapor Ta' Hury(3) Training Program of Indigenous Agro-Forestry Agents (IAFAs) of Acre (28) In Situ Conservation of Native Cultivated Plants and their Wild Relatives, a Global Center of Origin: Peru(15) Territorial Management in Brazil's Xingu Indigenous Park(24) Ethnocartography and Self-Demarcation of Hoti and Enepa Habitats(35) Tejedores de vida(36) Conservacion en Areas Indigenas Manejadas (CAIMAN)(8) The Use of Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge in Species Assessment: A Case Study of Northern Canada Wolverines(26) Gwich'in Place Names and Tradtional Land Use(14) 18/2043/45

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Worldwide Experiences in an Integrated Approach to Sustaining Cultures and Biodiversity

by Luisa Maffi and Ellen Woodley a Terralingua publication, 2008

Over the past decade, the idea of "biocultural diversity" has emerged as a powerful concept to express the "inextricable link" of biological and cultural diversity - the sum total of the diversity of life in nature and culture. Biodiversity and cultural diversity are interconnected and interdependent, and they are jointly threatened. There is a growing recognition of the vital importance of biocultural diversity for planetary sustainability and of the need to protect and sustain it. Throughout the world, individuals, communities, and organizations are working to revitalize and maintain biocultural diversity, but much more must be done.

How do we bring about favorable change for biocultural diversity? One way is to increase the visibility of what people are doing on the ground to maintain and restore it. The innumerable efforts that are underway at the local level often fall "under the radar" for lack of visibility, and the lessons from these projects cannot easily be learned. Terralingua has written down the lessons learned from 45 projects from all continents in a Global Source Book on Biocultural Diversity, which is available to all those who want to learn more about these efforts and their global significance.

The Global Source Book on Biocultural Diversity is the very first resource of its kind. It is made available in electronic form, with a companion page on Terralingua's website, where an interactive world map allows people to find the projects' locations and learn more about them. New projects can be added by sending us the information, thus making this source book a "living resource", constantly updatable and expandable. Terralingua's website also hosts a discussion forum specifically devoted to issues relevant to biocultural diversity conservation. By creating a network of biocultural diversity conservation practitioners, we are also helping to "connect the dots" among people worldwide who are working to strengthen and recover the health and vitality of local cultures and environments.

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