Browsing by Author "Turner, Nancy"

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Coming to Understanding: Developing Conservation Through Incremental Learning
(2004) Turner, Nancy
"Lessons in conservation are often seen as resulting from cycles of over-exploitation and subsequent depletion of resources, followed by catastrophic consequences of shortage and starvation, and finally, development of various strategies, including privatization of the commons, to conserve remaining resource stocks. While this scenario has undoubtedly occurred on many occasions, we suggest that it is not the only means by which people develop conservation practices and concepts. There are other pathways leading to ecological understanding and conservation, which act at a range of scales and levels of complexity. These include: lessons from the past and from other places, perpetuated and strengthened through oral history and discourse; lessons from animals, learned through observation of migration and population cycles, predator effects, and social dynamics; monitoring resources and human effects on resources (positive and negative), building on experiences and expectations; observing changes in ecosystem cycles and natural disturbance events; trial and error experimentation and incremental modification of habitats and populations. Humans, we believe, are capable of building a sophisticated conservation ethic that transcends individual species and resources. When conservation knowledge, practices and beliefs are combined, this can lead to increasingly greater sophistication of ecological understanding and the continued encoding of such knowledge in social institutions and worldview."
Cultural Keystone Species: Implications for Ecological Conservation and Restoration
(2004) Garibaldi, Ann; Turner, Nancy
"Ecologists have long recognized that some species, by virtue of the key roles they play in the overall structure and functioning of an ecosystem, are essential to its integrity; these are known as keystone species. Similarly, in human cultures everywhere, there are plants and animals that form the contextual underpinnings of a culture, as reflected in their fundamental roles in diet, as materials, or in medicine. In addition, these species often feature prominently in the language, ceremonies, and narratives of native peoples and can be considered cultural icons. Without these 'cultural keystone species,'the societies they support would be completely different. An obvious example is western red-cedar (Thuja plicata) for Northwest Coast cultures of North America. Often prominent elements of local ecosystems, cultural keystone species may be used and harvested in large quantities and intensively managed for quality and productivity. Given that biological conservation and ecological restoration embody human cultures as crucial components, one approach that may improve success in overall conservation or restoration efforts is to recognize and focus on cultural keystone species. In this paper, we explore the concept of cultural keystone species, describe similarities to and differences from ecological keystone species, present examples from First Nations cultures of British Columbia, and discuss the application of this concept in ecological restoration and conservation initiatives."
From Invisibility to Transparency: Identifying the Implications
(2008) Turner, Nancy; Gregory, Robin; Brooks, Cheryl; Failing, Lee; Satterfield, Terre
"This paper explores the need for a broader and more inclusive approach to decisions about land and resources, one that recognizes the legitimacy of cultural values and traditional knowledge in environmental decision making and policy. Invisible losses are those not widely recognized or accounted for in decisions about resource planning and decision making in resource- and land-use negotiations precisely because they involve considerations that tend to be ignored by managers and scientists or because they are often indirect or cumulative, resulting from a complex, often cumulative series of events, decisions, choices, or policies. First Nations communities in western North America have experienced many such losses that, together, have resulted in a decline in the overall resilience of individuals and communities. We have identified eight types invisible losses that are often overlapping and cumulative: cultural/lifestyle losses, loss of identity, health losses, loss of self-determination and influence, emotional and psychological losses, loss of order in the world, knowledge losses, and indirect economic losses and lost opportunities. To render such invisible losses more transparent, which represents the first step in developing a more positive and equitable basis for decision making and negotiations around land and resources, we recommend six processes: focusing on what matters to the people affected, describing what matters in meaningful ways, making a place for these concerns in decision making, evaluating future losses and gains from a historical baseline, recognizing culturally derived values as relevant, and creating better alternatives for decision making so that invisible losses will be diminished or eliminated in the future."
Occupying the Land: Traditional Patterns of Land and Resource Ownership among First Peoples of British Columbia
(2000) Turner, Nancy; Jones, James T.
"A frequent misconception of early European settlers in what is now British Columbia was that the Aboriginal inhabitants were not really using most of the land, did not really 'occupy' very much of it, and held no real concepts of ownership for either the land or its resources. This perpsective was encouraged among the newcomers, who otherwise might have had to restrict their own desired occupation of the land and conform to existing codes of ownership. "In fact, First Peoples throughout the region had well developed concepts of territory, occupancy and proprietorship over lands and resources with firmly embedded protocols for resource use and distribution within and among families and communities. These concepts varied from one cultural group to another, and access to some areas and prime resources, like salmon streams and valuable root-digging and berry gathering areas, were more closely controlled than others. In all cases, however, traditional proprietorship was inextricably linked with responsibilities of the owners for stewardship and sharing of resources. "We provide examples of different cultural models of land and resource ownership, ranging from communal control of territory at the tribal level for Salishan peoples, to more specifically focused hereditary ownership and control of lands by clan chiefs, as practiced by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, Haida, Nisga'a and other Northwest Coast peoples. The implications of these systems of ownership for resource sustainability are also discussed. The systems have been largely disrupted from the imposition of European law and property systems, but they still exist, and with new arrangements for land tenure deriving from treaty negotiations, they may be reinstated to some extent in the coming years. There is a good potential for improving contemporary resource management through incorporation of some of these traditional models of land tenure and use."
'We Might Go Back to This': Drawing on the Past to Meet the Future in Northwestern North American Indigenous Communities
(2013) Turner, Nancy; Spalding, Pamela R.
"Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) systems are as important today for the survival and well-being of many indigenous peoples as they ever were. These ways of knowing have much to contribute at a time of marked climate change. As indigenous peoples have sustained exposure to natural resources and phenomena in particular places over time, they are privy to the cumulative knowledge on the location and timing of a host of significant environmental events and processes. Not only do their intimate experiences of seasonal weather conditions, tides and currents, species, and environmental indicators contribute to a better understanding of the nature, rate, and intensity of climate change, but TEK systems can potentially contribute to more effective planning and decision making regarding resilience and adaptation to climate change. Furthermore, the values of respect and recognition of kinship with other species that are often embodied in these systems can serve to remind all of us about the imperative to conserve and protect these other species if we are to survive as humans. We identify some of the more obvious areas where TEK systems can provide important insights for climate change planners in British Columbia, Canada as well as some of the potential challenges to attempting to integrate TEK into mainstream planning for climate change."