Teaching ethnobotany through field research: A case study integrating conservation with Tibetan Traditional Ecological knowledge

Abstract

Irrefutably, the best place to teach ethnobotany is in the field, whether the field is wilderness, an agricultural field, an indigenous village, or New York City. In the field, students, professors, experts, indigenous people, and participants of all sorts all learn and are all teachers. There is an equity and sense of discovery that no classroom can reproduce. Integrating multicultural and multidisciplinary perspectives-fundamental to ethnobotany-is simplified and organic. The significance of these goals is amplified when we teach ethnobotany in order to promote conservation and sustainable development, which are strongly supported by traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). A case study of teaching ethnobotany in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of NW Yunnan, China illustrates the process and advantages of teaching ethnobotany in the field. The prominent goal of this training was to integrate conservation with Tibetan traditional ecological knowledge. This training project took place over 4 years and included several components not often incorporated into training courses: Our multidisciplinary and multicultural constituency was incorporated in (1) needs assessment and project design; (2) development of training; and (3) participation; including (4) the multifaceted training and research; (5) subsequent ethnobotany projects, both applied and academic; (6) presentation of results; and (7) evaluations.