Sacred Ecology

by Fikret Berkes

Sacred Ecology examines bodies of knowledge held by indigenous and other rural peoples around the world, and asks how we can learn from this knowledge and ways of knowing. Berkes explores the importance of local and indigenous knowledge as a complement to scientific ecology, and its cultural and political significance for indigenous groups themselves. This third edition further develops the point that traditional knowledge as process, rather than as content, is what we should be examining. It has been updated with about 150 new references, and includes an extensive list of web resources through which instructors can access additional material and further illustrate many of the topics and themes in the book.

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Genres: Nature, Ecology, Indigenous, Environment, Nonfiction, Science, Anthropology

592 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Dr. Berkes is an applied ecologist by background and works at the interface of natural and social sciences. He joined the University of Manitoba in 1991 as the Director of NRI, a position he occupied until 1996. He has served as the President of the International Association for the Study of Common Property (1996-98) and as the leader of a number of research groups. He has devoted most of his professional life to investigating the relations between societies and their resources, and to examining the conditions under which the "tragedy of the commons" may be avoided. He works on theoretical and practical aspects of community-based management, co-management, and traditional knowledge. His publications include the books, Sacred Ecology (Routledge, 2008), Breaking Ice (U Calgary Press, 2005), Navigating Social-Ecological Systems (Cambridge U Press, 2003), and Managing Small-Scale Fisheries (IDRC, 2001). See his list of publications and downloadable PDFs elsewhere on this web site. Dr. Berkes holds a Tier I Canada Research Chair (2002) and the title of Distinguished Professor (2003).


Dr. Berkes' main area of research is the commons, with current emphasis on adaptive co-management, complex systems/resilience, and indigenous knowledge. He works with Masters and PhD students who have an interdisciplinary orientation and an interest in combining social and ecological perspectives. Several of his national and international team projects involve NRI students. Five such projects were in progress in the past year: the SSHRC project, "Community-based resource management in a multi-level world", SSHRC/CURA project, "Protected area creation, culture and development at the Cree community of Wemindji, James Bay, Quebec" (with C. Scott, McGill, PI); the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) project, "Community-based conservation and UNDP Equator Initiative cases", the CIDA project, "Building environmental governance capacity in Bangladesh" (with C.E. Haque, NRI, PI); the Natural Resources Canada project, "Adaptation as resilience building: a policy study of climate change vulnerability and adaptation on the Canadian Prairies" (with H. Venema, IISD, PI).

Reviews

[Marc Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers an excellent overview of traditional ecological knowledge and its role in conservation and ecology. I found many important insights in the text that changed my perspectives on the privileged position that quantitative data takes in wildlife and land management. This is an important read for anyone in government environment departments or who hold ministerial positions responsible for Aboriginal relations and land. It's also an important book for Canadians to read because it can help build an understanding of how Indigenous people see and use the land and how valuable it can be when incorporated and respected in land management practices. This is such an important book for beginning reconciliation and gaining an understanding of how we can work together to honour the treaties.

[Don Conway-Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

typical textbook, but rooted as it is in indigenous peoples' knowledges, it has much to teach us.

[Andrew Haubenstricker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is mostly about the difference between Western Science’s way of understanding the ecological world & that of Indigenous People & their traditional systems.

Western Science, historically, goes about understanding ecology through an objective, independent reductionist approach that is detached from the object of study & performs reductive analytics to find the main objective factors or laws governing a phenomena’s behavior.

An indigenous “method” of inquiry is rooted in practice. It is rooted in the idea of relation to the environment. It goes about studying the environment through its own beliefs system & values. Fundamentally, the indigenous culture believe that they are intertwined with an environment pulsing with life that constantly changes &, to some degree, will remain elusive to man’s understanding.

The book uses practical example of where ecological practices are using both western scientific tools & I’d indigenous knowledge to produce the outcomes.

Additionally, the “positivistic-reductionist” approach to scientific inquiry is taking a back seat to systems theory, fuzzy logic, constructivism & complexity theory which better maps onto & coincides with Indigenous practices, beliefs & culture.

Ultimately, the indigenous people had to survive in & adapt to the environment in which they live. Much like a trading strategy, if a belief-action system is generating the return of survival, then it must be doing something right even if it is not articulated correctly.

At the end, the book poses the interesting idea that ethics, values & morality are not irrelevant to inquiry & the functioning of the universe like traditional science has us believe, but central to our field of inquiry. The indigenous believe that all things flow from the values of the relation to others & our environment. Values like respect, co-operation ect… this is at the core of our world. That we both owe the world these comportments & attitude & the world owes us them in return. A looped system with values in the middle & as the most important.

[çiğdem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Türkiye'de geleneksel ekolojik bilgi adına yapılmış olan az sayıdaki çalışmanın kaynağıdır. Türkçe'ye çevrilmesi bu alandaki çalışmaların artmasını sağlayacaktır. Kitabın ilk kısmı GEB'e verilen değerin nasıl ortaya çıktığını ve kullanım sahasını açıklarken ikinci kısmı dünyada GEB'in nasıl ve neden gerekliği olduğunu dünyadan örneklerle sunuyor. Sadece çevre bilimi değil, sosyoloji, antropoloji ve halkbilimi gibi disiplinlere kaynaklık ediyor.

[CL Chu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The part on Cisasibi Cree's knowledge about (and relationship with) the land is most insightful. The survey part is less organized. Will check out the new edition latter.

[Tomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vast majority of the book provide a wonderful overview of TEK and how it can be studied and integrated into Western thought to address shortcomings in both systems. I deducted one star for the focus Berkes puts on the Cree and their TEK-based management systems. This is understandable, as he researched with the Cree for many years. However, as this is a primer in TEK, I would prefer that he paint with broader brushstrokes or at least provide a wider range of examples rather than focus on one particular culture.

[Andrew Fehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting from a professional standpoint but I had hoped the author would draw primarily on Canadian examples to explain what traditional knowledge is and how it can applied. Instead, he uses examples from all around the world to illustrate his point. As an intellectual exercise it is useful to consider them but because the application of traditional knowledge is so context sensitive, I would have preferred almost exclusively Canadian examples.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and thought-provoking summary of research on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). It includes frequent and extensive references throughout the chapters. Although the references makes it seem like a textbook or research report, I still found it to be comfortably readable. I believe it will challenge the thinking of most readers who have a background in science - the type of western science most of us learned in schools and universities.

[EB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a necessary argument for and explanation of indigenous knowledges in ecology, but I believe it’s a biased presentation and lacks genuine discussion of the flaws and limitations present. It’s an important perspective, but important to not necessarily take it at face value and consider expert knowledge on a case by case basis.

[Melissa]

I'm nerdy about traditional ecological knowledge

[Susannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible- great resource...

Read in TEK (Hampshire class, Spring 2017)