Abstract:
Identities and cultures are developedby societies through interaction with their environments. In caring for and using their environment, ecological knowledge iscreated.Deep knowledge ofsustainable utilization and conservation of forest resources exist in Papua, but this traditional wisdom is poorlyreflected in scientific literature. Such knowledge includes for example theadaptive traditional management of Black Fruit trees(Haplolobus sp.) by the Wandamen people of Papua, which is the subject of the casestudy reported in this paper. Our research focusedon developing an understanding of how local knowledge about utilization, conservation, and protection of Black Fruit was constructedover time. It employedethnoecology as the analytical lens.The study was conducted in Teluk Wondama District, West Papua. Wefound thattheadaptive resource management of Black Fruit by the Wandamen is based on an approach which we have called “ethno-techno-conservation”.This approach is an attitude of mind by which Wandamen communities manage their Black Fruit trees to meet thedual goals of fulfilling subsistence needs and conserving the resource. This adaptive strategy has evolved over time as a response to thedynamics of the environment and exemplifies the co-evolutionof culture and environment that is a defining feature of the world we allinhabit. The traditional concepts and knowledge of the Wandaman elaborate conservation values in the utilization of the BlackFruit.These adaptive concepts and knowledge are codified in their beliefs, myths, and handed-down wisdom
