The theme for this issue is our growing “community of practice” in biocultural diversity conservation–a movement that started with the publication of our book Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook in 2010, and has continued since then through our dedicated portal www.terralingua.org/bcdconservation, an online space that keeps the Sourcebook project vibrant, evolving, and interactive. Our editor Ortixia Dilts has drawn from the amazing global pool of dedicated biocultural conservationists who have contributed to both the print and online versions of the Sourcebook. This issue features articles spanning from South Africa to Italy to Costa Rica and describes the latest projects that we added to the portal.
What is linguistic diversity, and why is it so important? The current issue of Terralingua’s E-Magazine, Langscape, “The Case for Linguistic Diversity”, sheds light on these questions and illuminates them with new insights. This issue introduces our readers to one of Terralingua’s innovative projects, the Index of Linguistic Diversity (ILD), and provides a comprehensive companion to the work of ILD developers David Harmon and Jonathan Loh. “If linguistic diversity is part and parcel of the diversity of life in nature and culture, then any loss in linguistic diversity is a loss in the vitality and resilience of the whole web of life.” Luisa Maffi, from Introduction to Langscape 8.
Indigenous Peoples the world over are seeking to hold on or reconnect to their oral traditions, in order to maintain or rebuild their identities, their sense of place, and their ability to forge their own destiny and “walk to the future in the footprints of their ancestors”. There is a lot everyone can learn, or re-learn, from the wisdom of indigenous oral traditions. That is why Terralingua is at work to ensure that these traditions are not further depleted and that the living chorus of Voices of the Earth can still be heard loud and clear. In the initial stages of the Voices of the Earth project, we are partnering with two Canadian First Nations, the Saanich (W̱SÁNEĆ) People of Coastal British Columbia (BC) and the Chilcotin (Tsilhqot’in) People of the BC Interior. We are providing small start-up grants to enable them to develop their own oral literature documentation projects. The resulting materials will contribute to their language and culture revitalization programs, educational curriculum, reconnection to the land and ancestral ways of life, and affirmation of their identity and rights.
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