 |
 |
 |
|
September-October 2010
|
Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development
“The indigenous knowledge systems of the peoples of the South constitute the world’s largest reservoir of knowledge of the diverse species of plant and animal life on earth,” said Mervyn Claxton, international consultant, researcher and author. He was delivering the Third Lecture in The Cropper Foundation’s Distinguished Lecture Series on the Environment. Themed “Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development,” this free and public lecture took place on September 1st at The UWI Faculty of Engineering. “Ecological agriculture, organic agriculture, and conservation agriculture are the names employed by modern science to describe the methods, techniques, and practices which the indigenous peoples of the South have applied for many centuries. Ecological agriculture, or to use its original name, indigenous agricultural knowledge, is recognized by a growing number of scientists as the most effective method of promoting sustainable development,” he said. Held in collaboration with The Ministry of Housing and the Environment and The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, the lecture was meant to contribute to public awareness and education on the multiple dimensions and issues of sustainable development. Claxton identified industry, conventional agriculture, deforestation and transport as the four major sources of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change, and he explained that ecological agriculture sequesters carbon from the atmosphere more cheaply and more effectively than CCS (carbon capture and storage). “Eco-indigenous knowledge should possibly be considered the essential factor in solutions for the problems of preserving biodiversity, promoting sustainable development, and mitigating climate change. Those three problems, arguably, constitute the most important challenges that confront mankind today,” he said. Claxton was a college teacher in West Africa for five years, a diplomat with the Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Service for twelve years, and an international civil servant for nineteen years with UNESCO, where he served in a number of senior positions, including that of UNESCO Representative to the Caribbean. The evening included the launch of “Moving Right Along”, compiled by Professor Funso Aiyejina, Dean of The UWI St Augustine Faculty of Humanities and Education. “Moving Right Along” is an anthology of short stories from participants in The Cropper Foundation’s Caribbean Creative Writers’ Residential Workshops, held between 2000 and 2008. The anthology is dedicated to the late John Cropper, co-founder of The Cropper Foundation. |
Biodiversity and sustainable development are very closely linked, and our eco-indigenous agricultural knowledge could provide the key to managing both.