Different Types and Sources of Knowledge
Local knowledge – Formal or informal knowledge held by a group of people (e.g., fishers in bay, farmers in a watershed) about their local ecosystems
Scientific knowledge – Knowledge gained through the application of the scientific method (e.g., formal hypothesis testing)
Traditional ecological knowledge(s) – The cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment (Berkes, 2000)
Despite their differences, there are many common features of most knowledge systems (adopted from Stephens, 2000):
Shared principles
- Honesty
- Inquisitiveness
- Perseverance
- Open-mindedness
- Knowledge open to modification and adjustment
Shared skills and procedures
- Empirical observation
- Pattern recognition
- Verification through repetition
Shared knowledge areas
- Plant and animal behavior, cycles, habitats, and linkages
- Properties of objects and materials
- Position and motion of objects
- Ecological and physical cycles and changes