INDIGENOUS AND MODERN KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS OF BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN AFRICA: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Indigenous and modern knowledge systems are vital for sustainability of natural resources and biodiversity including forests, water, and agro-ecosystems across landscapes. In the last few decades, man has been faced with the exceptional challenges of eroding natural resources and declining biodiversity due to a multitude of threats due to increasing human populations. The consequences of these challenges are the loss of the biodiversity and the sustainability of the essential ecological processes and life support.
The loss of biodiversity is an issue of profound concern for sustainable development. Indigenous and modern biodiversity
systems are both phenomena essential to human development. This study therefore focused on comparative overview of the
indigenous and modern knowledge systems, challenges and the needs for their integration for effective biodiversity conservation and sustainability. The study reviewed the extant literature in covering the contemporary issues, challenges and perspectives on indigenous and modern knowledge systems in relation to biodiversity conservation in Africa. The options of integrating these forms of knowledge systems and their role, limitations and implications for biodiversity conservation were considered. The study calls for the integration of both indigenous and modern knowledge systems for effective biodiversity conservation and sustainability. This is expected to enhance the capacity of local communities to use, express and develop their indigenous knowledge on the basis of their own cultural and institutional norms for the protection of biodiversity. However, the modern or scientific approach for nature conservation has been observed to have serious flaws resulting in the failure to achieved biodiversity conservation objectives.