Arunachal: Webinar focuses on manangement of Traditional Ecological Knowledge
ITANAGAR- As a run up to mark the World Environment Day-2021, Fridays for Future Arunachal Pradesh organized a webinar on the topic ‘Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK ) and Resource Management.’
Resource person Bengia Pappi, a Ph. D research scholar at Rajiv Gandhi University’s Sociology Department highlighted that Traditional Knowledge is tradition-based undisclosed information and all other tradition-based innovations and creations resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.
TEK is knowledge of a community or people based on experiences, has been in the community for generations and adapted to the local culture and environment, she informed.
Emphasizing on the benefits of the TEK, she said it helps in grass root understanding of the communities and their needs, basis for self sufficiency and self determination for the community, contributes to development and better policy decisions.
TEK helps us with climate change in an effective manner, protect the people and their culture, manage environment risk and help tribal indigenous communities protect their IPR (Intellectual Property Rights), she added.
Some common challenges Arunachal’s tribal society face today in terms of traditional ecological knowledge according to her are due to the declining social legitimacy (incl. government support), lack of recognition of practices and practitioners, lack of self esteem, erosion of knowledge, lack of successors, self determination, rights to resources, traditional lands, ownership of knowledge and benefits from use of resources and knowledge, intellectual appropriation (IPR challenges) and other reasons.
She suggested if TEK diminution is a crisis, it can be solved by appropriate integration in formal learning, constant engagement on contemporary relevance and promotion as active social traditions in vital areas like agriculture, health etc.
Issues of integration of TEK needs to be addressed at different social levels such as communities, civil society groups, nongovernmental organizations, formal and informal education institutions, local administrative structures, and national and international multilateral and policy forums , she added.
She also answered a few queries raised during the Q & A session after the presentation.
More than 100 participants from across the country attended the session virtually through zoom and facebook apps.
The webinar was moderated by FFF-AP Coordinator Prem Taba
