Exploring traditional knowledge and its integral link to any environmental science

" ...Traditional knowledge is defined as that based on accumulated experience or continuous usage. Often it has not been committed to writing, but passed from generation to generation by oral teaching or demonstration. Frederic Briand has described traditional knowledge as "a unique, essential resource for humanity as a whole". In these days of great concern for conservation, traditional knowledge could be described as an 'endangered species'.

The gradual fragmentation of traditional societies and the continual impact of 'new technologies' mean that only limited transfers of traditional scientific and technical knowledge are currently being made to the young people in the Pacific Islands. Under the influence of prevailing educational policies, media directions, and the process of economic development, traditional science is being lost faster than it is being recorded. Hence, the need is urgent to give due attention to Pacific knowledge of plants and animals, astronomy, medicine, agriculture, navigation, boat-building, fishing, and other fields of knowledge as well as to the conceptual and linguistic ways of organizing this knowledge.

Traditional knowledge often does not receive the recognition it deserves because much emphasis in Pacific countries is placed on knowledge derived from 'modern' (i.e., Western oriented) educational systems. We must rekindle appreciation of the skills developed by Pacific Island ancestors to cope with the many difficulties encountered in these isolated environments. These volumes are a small contribution to that goal.

The past few decades have seen growing interest in the history of the science and technology of Pacific peoples and growing awareness of the importance of that science and technology to the modern world. Many scholars have investigated the ways in which traditional peoples have understood the world and how they have accommodated its vagaries or intervened in its processes. What has often not been recognized properly is the contribution that could be, and now is, made to the sum of human knowledge by concepts and technologies that are understood and practised, in time or place, outside academic or formal scientific and educational circles. The contribution of such science to sustainable development is increasingly apparent.

In the past, it has been primarily prehistorians and anthropologists who have been interested in this subject; only recently have natural scientists begun to study traditional and alternative ways of knowing about nature. The recognition of the need to summarize and catalogue what is already known, to set an agenda for future research, and to consider the potential integration of all kinds of Pacific science led the University of the South Pacific to organize and host the first international conference on the Science of Pacific Island Peoples in July 1992. These volumes contain most of the papers presented at that meeting, therefore representing a major compilation of traditional scientific and technological knowledge in Oceania. There is much more that needs to be recorded, and it is hoped that these publications will inspire Pacific Island peoples to work towards the preparation of suitable permanent records of the knowledge of previous generations. This knowledge may be required to solve future problems encountered in the protection of these fragile homelands."

John Morrison
Paul Geraghty
Linda Crowl
July 1994

Reproduced with permission of the above listed series editors from "Science of Pacific Island Peoples" volumes 1-4, preface to the Series (publication details can be found at http://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=2824). Vinaka to Seraseini Colata & Wendy Tubman