Biocultural homogenization and the “extinction of experience” are key drivers of rapid losses of biological and cultural diversity. However, a lack of awareness about the causes and consequences of these losses prevails in global society. To transform this social alienation and contribute to conserving biocultural diversity, it is essential to develop biocultural communication that connects society with the diversity of worldviews and cultures that value biodiversity. This biocultural diversity occurs across gradients of urban, rural, and remote ecosystems. In our introduction to Part III, we briefly refer to three case studies that inspired our book and showcase forms of biocultural communication in place-based educational settings: Omora Ethnobotanical Park (Puerto WilliamsWilliams, Puerto, Chile), the Cranberry Lake Biological Station (New York State, USA), and the H.J. Andrews Experimental ForestHJ Andrews Experimental Forest (Oregon, USA). We then summarize six biocultural conservation concepts and practices presented in the chapters of Part III, which draw on innovative initiatives from Asia and Latin America. (1) Flagship species, such as the Chinese medicinal plant Cao-guo or Chinese black cardamom (Lanxangia tsao-ko), inspire citizens to engage in biocultural conservation. (2) Eco-themed art exhibitions increasingly captivate the public as well as ecologists, artists, and citizens, offering a novel form of contemporary biocultural communication. (3) Innovative combinations of landscape painting and poetic dance drama amalgamate traditional and contemporary art forms. (4) Integration of rational knowledge and emotions is illustrated with photovoice, a qualitative research method used in community-based participatory research that involves gathering photographs and narrativesNarratives taken by community members, as opposed to outside researchers. (5) Nature-based paths for rural revitalization developed in Chinese urban-rural co-innovation regions, are especially relevant to villages with rich natural and cultural heritage, which can be valued and protected using market-oriented approaches to sustainability in ways that meet the demands of both rural and urban residents. (6) Ancestral practices, such as the Lamkaang Naga Indigenous Traditional Healing Systems of northeastern India, express forms of collective interdependence among humans, the land, medicinal plants, and the entire community of living beings with whom the habitat is shared. These six forms of biocultural communication illustrate vital interconnections between the life habits of human and other-than-human co-inhabitants in shared habitats. In this way, biocultural communication discloses just and sustainable forms of co-inhabitation among diverse cultures and species.

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Introduction to Part III: Biocultural Communication and Conservation Across Urban, Rural, and Remote Ecosystems

  • Danqiong Zhu,
  • Terrance Caviness,
  • Ricardo Rozzi

摘要

Biocultural homogenization and the “extinction of experience” are key drivers of rapid losses of biological and cultural diversity. However, a lack of awareness about the causes and consequences of these losses prevails in global society. To transform this social alienation and contribute to conserving biocultural diversity, it is essential to develop biocultural communication that connects society with the diversity of worldviews and cultures that value biodiversity. This biocultural diversity occurs across gradients of urban, rural, and remote ecosystems. In our introduction to Part III, we briefly refer to three case studies that inspired our book and showcase forms of biocultural communication in place-based educational settings: Omora Ethnobotanical Park (Puerto WilliamsWilliams, Puerto, Chile), the Cranberry Lake Biological Station (New York State, USA), and the H.J. Andrews Experimental ForestHJ Andrews Experimental Forest (Oregon, USA). We then summarize six biocultural conservation concepts and practices presented in the chapters of Part III, which draw on innovative initiatives from Asia and Latin America. (1) Flagship species, such as the Chinese medicinal plant Cao-guo or Chinese black cardamom (Lanxangia tsao-ko), inspire citizens to engage in biocultural conservation. (2) Eco-themed art exhibitions increasingly captivate the public as well as ecologists, artists, and citizens, offering a novel form of contemporary biocultural communication. (3) Innovative combinations of landscape painting and poetic dance drama amalgamate traditional and contemporary art forms. (4) Integration of rational knowledge and emotions is illustrated with photovoice, a qualitative research method used in community-based participatory research that involves gathering photographs and narrativesNarratives taken by community members, as opposed to outside researchers. (5) Nature-based paths for rural revitalization developed in Chinese urban-rural co-innovation regions, are especially relevant to villages with rich natural and cultural heritage, which can be valued and protected using market-oriented approaches to sustainability in ways that meet the demands of both rural and urban residents. (6) Ancestral practices, such as the Lamkaang Naga Indigenous Traditional Healing Systems of northeastern India, express forms of collective interdependence among humans, the land, medicinal plants, and the entire community of living beings with whom the habitat is shared. These six forms of biocultural communication illustrate vital interconnections between the life habits of human and other-than-human co-inhabitants in shared habitats. In this way, biocultural communication discloses just and sustainable forms of co-inhabitation among diverse cultures and species.