Some knowledge is forever

A RECENT publication of the United Nations Education,Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) discusses TEK- Traditional Ecological Knowledge - and its functioning inthe tropical countries. It identifies 3 broad categories Of TEK.The first is the knowledge about specific components oraspects of plants, animals, soils and environmental phenomena. Then comes the development, evolution and use of appropriate technologies for farming, forestry, hunting and fishing.And finally, the most complex, and the least understood, is theunderstanding of an intimate relationship with environmentalsystems as a whole.

A lot of the debates and programmes on biodiversity, tradeand intellectual property rights-related issues, including therecent Seville Strategy Of UNESCO's Man and Biosphere (MAB)programme held in Spain in March 1995, have stemmed fromthe overall awareness Of TEK. The recurrent question, however,is: what do we really know about TEK? The best thing, therefore, is to analyse the Indian TEK that we are familiar with.

TEK is believed to have been recorded in a variety of ways.These include symbols, phonetics, narratives, rituals, musicand dance. Subsistence technology, fertility control,settlement patterns, social structure with specific values andnorms, acceptance and practice of sorcery, reliance onshamanic powers, forest spirits and supernaturally protectedareas (sacred groves), are all considered telltale signs ofprevailing TEK.

In India, TEK of medicinal plants and conservation of cropgenetic resources in the form of seed banks and locally grownland races have attracted the attention of conservation biologists. Some of these knowledge systems and practices are beingsystematically documented. Although TEK of the variousecosystem components has been quite convincingly recorded, the appropriate technologies for farming and harvesting,which we frequently search for amongst the indigenous peoples, are as yet not fully authentically documented. There is little doubt that TEK does include appropriate technologies forharvesting of natural resources. However, experience suggeststhat the supportive evidences quoted regarding TEK andsustainability are anecdotal and equivocal.

For example, some forest dwellers in the Annamalai Hillsin south India, called Malasars, are subsisting largely ashunter-gatherers today. Ethnobotanists have highlighted theirprudent harvesting practices. Tubers of wild plants, such asDioscorea, are collected only when the plants show signs ofmaturity. What is not used is ploughed back for regeneration.Larger tubers are shared among the community members.

However, the same Malasars are extremely wasteful intheir fishing practices. An 91d saree is dragged along the bottom of the pool and everything that cannot possibly passthrough or jump to safety is@, brought to the shore and emptiedon the sand. The choice Ash are picked up and put inside asmall pit dug beside the pool, while the rest, including tadpoles and smaller fish, are just allowed to perish on the shore.Further, the pool remains in that state till, probably, the nextrains. Again, the Irulas, huriter-gatherers around Madras, setup pitfall traps and nets in @arge areas for catching small vertebrates. They too pick only lbe choice prey, leaving the others to die in the pits.

Away from these negative examples, however, we may nowconsider a few positive cases. In south India, traditionally, Julyis a month closed to sea fish harvesting. This is the breedingseason for the choice fish. They come closer to the shore forspawning. One may very well interpret this practice as a prudent TEK in favour of the sustainable harvesting of fish. Thepractice of using plant poisons to temporarily paralyse fish inpools of freshwater, collecting the select individuals and allowing the rest to 'recover', also speaks of the TEK of sustainable harvesting.

Thus, one can keep quoting examples supporting orcontradicting the "TEK of sustainability" hypotheses. Yet,my purpose is not to make the readers feel that there is notruth in TEK. This system, which has been tried andpractised over a few thousand years, cannot be ignoredaltogether. What is needed is an emphasis on carefullycollected and analysed data which is scientifically scrutinisedand interpreted.

R J Ranjit Daniels is Principal Scientific Officer, and Jayshree Vencatesan a researcher, at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Madras