Introduction: Biocultural diversity and the participation of local communities in national and global conservation

Abstract

Much of the world's biodiversity is found in areas of human settlement, where people are highly dependent on natural resources for their subsistence. In 1995, more than one billion people were living in 25 biodiversity hotspots of priority for conservation. However, the global tendency has been for official biodiversity conservation measures (i.e., protected areas) to often exclude communities from decision-making or consider their participation and presence as detrimental. Some authors follow this conventional approach, supporting the strict protection of areas important for biodiversity and ecosystem services against people's intervention. In contrast, other authors argue that rural and indigenous communities have developed a cumulative body of local ecological knowledge, beliefs, and practices important for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.