Role of traditional knowledge and beliefs in conservation - Case studies from Central Himalaya, India

The field of environmental studies has been till now concerned mainly with the scientific study of bio-diversity and biophysical exchange while culture and environment remains a relatively new and uncharted territory. Although considerable research work has been undertaken by anthropologists and ecologists, a lot of important information and indigenous knowledge base has already been lost as old people die and their knowledge is not transmitted to younger generations. It is to be noted that ecology is the key to a better understanding of the place that man occupied in nature and of the religious and customary rules that he developed to assist him in his survival. With the disappearance of many traditional customs and the death of those, who enforced them, a lot of extremely valuable information has been/well be lost forever. The present study deals with the traditional beliefs and customs being practiced in the central Himalayas and makes an attempt to bring out the inherent environmental principles behind these practices. Pragmatic approaches combining conservation and sustainable uses are considered, as are traditional values that have conserved the forest and wildlife in the past.