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afrol.com, 23 November - A new report released today by the conservation organization WWF, show that the world's most biodiverse areas, like the Dzanga-Sangha National Park in the Central African Republic (CAR), are inhabited by high concentrations of native cultures, and warn that the loss of traditional languages and knowledge may lead to further environmental degradation. The report Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the World and Ecoregion Conservation: An Integrated Approach to Conserving the World's Biological and Cultural Diversity and a map are the results of a research project that has found a total number of 4,635 ethnolinguistic groups living in 225 regions of the highest biological importance, which represents 67 percent of an approximate global total of 6,867 ethnolinguistic groups. The study highlights that languages spoken by indigenous and traditional peoples are rapidly disappearing. Since the ecological knowledge accumulated by indigenous people in their long history of managing the environment is embodied in languages, language extinction is leading to loss of ecological knowledge, especially since in most traditional cultures this knowledge is only passed on to other groups or new generations orally. WWF works with indigenous and traditional peoples in all regions of the world. As one example, it supports sustainable wildlife management with indigenous communities in the Central African Republic. The tropical moist forests of southwestern Central African Republic (CAR) are the country's last stronghold of highly diverse forest habitats. In this region, the government of CAR and WWF have collaborated to create the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Special Reserve and the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park. Together, these two areas protect 4,500 km2 of intact moist tropical forest containing high densities of important forest wildlife. Most important, it is also the homeland of the Ba'Aka forest people. Two-thirds of Dzanga-Sangha National Park is now classified as a "Special Reserve", a new type of protected area in the Central African Republic, developed through WWF's influence in order to accommodate the needs of traditional peoples in this region. As a result, forest foragers such as the Ba'Aka are able to remain and maintain traditional lifestyles and, should they choose, receive support that would help prepare them for changing social conditions. The Ba'Aka have developed a strong awareness of the seasons and moods of the forest, as well as how they influence its plants and animals. Living within the special reserve, pygmies retain the rights to hunt and gather medicinal plants, fruit and other wild foods. Certain species such as elephant, gorilla and chimpanzee cannot be hunted as these are protected under national legislation. The knowledge these people have accumulated over generations is being put to use in managing the reserve and its wildlife. Some of the Ba'Aka are employed as research assistants for ecological studies on elephant, gorilla and medicinal plants. Sharing their knowledge with WWF contributes to a greater understanding of the often fragile links within the forest ecosystem, and is invaluable for planning and management purposes. As the same time, the Ba'Aka appreciate that their accumulated knowledge is important in the 'modern' world. Realizing that current levels of hunting are not sustainable, the Ba'Aka are helping reduce these pressures by supporting the establishment of a no-hunting zone in the remainder of the park, an area known as Dzanga-Ndoki. This move will help reduce threats from bushmeat hunting, an activity largely sustained by outsiders working with logging companies and diamond mines. In return, the Ba'Aka are employed by the project as tourist guides, sharing their understanding of the forest with outside visitors. A revenue-generating mechanism has been established, in which 40 per cent of all tourist receipts go to a village association, which includes the Aka people, while another 50 per cent pays the salaries of local employees of the park and reserve. In this way, 90 per cent of the conservation dividend goes to the local people most affected by the park and reserve. Many traditional practices were abandoned when people became more settled. WWF health care staff have helped revive some of these practice, such as treating ailments through traditional medicines. Thus, the validity of Ba'Aka traditional practices is again reinforcing and the Aka are encouraged to continue the use of their traditional knowledge. A rich culture, with its language and ecological knowledge may thus stand a chance of surviving. This, however, is not the typical picture in the world at large. On a worldwide basis, about 600 languages have been lost in only one century. Today, half of the approximately 6,000 remaining languages are either extinct or highly threatened, and at current rates, 90 percent will be lost in the 21st century. The majority of these are languages spoken by indigenous and traditional peoples. They - and their associated ecological knowledge - are being lost at growing speed because of the expansion of markets, global communications, and other aspects of globalization that promote dominant languages at the expense of native ones. - WWF recognizes the right of traditional peoples to development options that are culturally determined and not imposed from outside, and that incorporate customary, sustainable resource use, says Gonzalo Oviedo, head of People and Conservation at WWF International. "Achieving this objective is a difficult and complex challenge in times of globalization and expanding economic and market forces. It requires co-operation and alliances, both locally and globally. In terms of conservation and development, this implies the participation of indigenous and traditional peoples in projects affecting them." In the Central African Republic, the organisation and the Government have shown that it can work, however. Source: WWF
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