Indigenous knowledge

This publication is the result of the International Conference held in Frankfurt, Germany 14-16 June 2011 organized in the framework of an International UN Project funded by IFAD “Reinforcing the resilience of poor rural communities in the face of food insecurity, poverty and climate change through on-farm conservation of local agrobiodiversity”.

The Earth is faster now is a collection of ten papers describing contemporary efforts to document indigenous knowledge of environmental change in the Arctic. It reviews major individual studies on indigenous knowledge and climate change undertaken during the past few years, primarily in North America. The text is accompanied by local observations, quotations from interviews, personal observations, illustrations, and photographs.

This book was written in Bribri narrative. Words and teachings are presented just as elders have shared them. The format of this work is simple but profound. Excerpts of animal stories are introduced with just enough detail to give you a glimpse of the Bribri world while leaving plenty of room to imagine.

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. She circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgement and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. 

The Himalayas are the water tower of Asia and are a precious resource to be used wisely and protected for human welfare, research and eduction. This book, which consists of 18 articles, is aimed at practitioners, planners and researchers to be of use in the management, conservation and sustainable development of the Himalayan high altitude wetlands and their resources.