Living with Biodiversity in an Island Ecosystem: Cultural Adaptation in the Solomon Islands (Ethnobiology)

This book presents a detailed case study of ecological and cultural interactions between the people and their natural environment at Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands, a land of rich biodiversity. This volume documents the subsistence lifestyle of the people and their Indigenous ecological knowledge, analyzes the effects of recent socioeconomic changes on the people and ecosystem, and proposes future directions for sustainability. The contents have been designed to answer questions such as, ℓ́ℓWhat kinds of factors have determined whether current human actions are sustainable or will result in a collapse of biocultural diversity in the Solomon Islands?ℓ́ℓ; ℓ́ℓHow do Solomon Islanders recognize nature and biodiversity conservation in traditional ways or under socioeconomic changes?ℓ́ℓ; and ℓ́ℓHow can harmony between humans and nature be achieved in the Solomon Islands under changing socioeconomic conditions?ℓ́ℓ A truly transdisciplinary approach is applied, integrating theories of human ecology, quantitative ethnobiology, and folk ecology and methods of vegetation surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, remote sensing, and health surveys, in order to link different domains of humans and the natural world. In addition, this work focuses on the importance of understanding of diversity not only in natural environments, but also in human societies, and will be a valuable source for many, especially ecologists, anthropologists, conservation practitioners, and rural development planners Preface 8 Encounter in the Solomon Islands 8 Purpose of the Study 9 Structure of This Book 12 Acknowledgments 14 Conventions 16 Spelling and Wording 16 Notes on Methods and Analyses 16 Currency 17 Contents 18 Abbreviations 22 Chapter 1: Biocultural Diversity in Melanesia 23 1.1 Diversity in Melanesia 24 1.1.1 Biological Diversity 24 1.1.2 Cultural Diversity 27 1.2 Socioeconomic Changes 31 1.3 Previous Studies in Melanesia 34 1.4 Living with Biodiversity 35 Chapter 2: Ecological History and Regional Context of Roviana 37 2.1 Fieldwork in Solomon Islands 37 2.2 Geography and Ecosystem 39 2.3 People of Roviana 41 2.4 Social and Cultural Background 45 2.4.1 Kastom 46 2.4.2 Chief 46 2.4.3 Wantok 46 2.4.4 Land Tenure 47 2.4.5 Tabu ples/Hope 48 2.4.6 Tension 49 2.4.7 Christianity 50 2.5 Main Villages Studied Here 50 Chapter 3: Diversity in Landscape 53 3.1 Landscape Classification 53 3.2 Folk Classification of the Landscape 54 3.3 Primary and Secondary Forest 57 3.4 Logged Forest and Timber Plantations 59 3.5 Forest Reserve 64 3.6 Mangrove 66 3.7 Horticultural Gardens and Settlements 66 3.8 Similarity and Dissimilarity Between Forests 68 Chapter 4: Subsistence on the Main Island, Barrier Islands, and at Sea 70 4.1 Human Ecological Approach 70 4.2 Subsistence Pattern 71 4.3 A Comparison of Human Use of the Main and Barrier Islands 72 4.4 Spatiotemporal Distribution of Cultivation Lands 77 4.5 Horticultural Practices and Soil Fertility 79 4.6 Crop Diversity and Production from Annuals and Perennials 84 4.7 Carrying Capacity of the Barrier Island 85 4.8 Fishing Activities in the Lagoon and Outer Seas 91 Chapter 5: Plant Resources as Ecosystems Services 97 5.1 Quantitative Ethnobotany 97 5.2 Plants Used for Food 98 5.3 Plants Used to Treat Illnesses 102 5.4 Plants Used to Build Houses 103 5.5 Plants Used for Tools 105 5.6 Plants Used for Fuel 108 5.7 Plants Used in Two or More Purposes 108 5.8 Distribution of Useful Trees in Different Forest Types and on Islands 110 5.9 The Relationship between Subsistence Plant Use and Botanical Diversity 111 5.10 Traditional Methods of Subsistence May Contribute to Forest Biodiversity 111 Chapter 6: Recognized Webs in Ecosystems 114 6.1 Folk Ecology 114 6.2 Knowledge and Recognition of Nature 115 6.3 Human–Plant Relationships 120 6.4 Human–Animal Relationships 121 6.5 Plant–Animal Relationships 123 6.6 Development and Changing Recognition of Ecological Webs 127 6.7 Conservation in Recognition 128 Chapter 7: Changing Ethnobotanical Knowledge 130 7.1 Changing Ethnobotanical Knowledge 130 7.2 Cultural Consensus and Modernity 131 7.2.1 Conceptual Framework 131 7.2.2 Cultural Consensus 133 7.2.3 Modernity Score 135 7.3 Correlation Between Knowledge and Modernity 137 7.4 Effects of Individual Characteristics 138 7.5 Transformation of Knowledge 142 Chapter 8: Painful Lessons from Urban Ecology and Economics 146 8.1 Urbanization in the Solomon Islands 146 8.2 Near Future of Socio-ecological Changes 147 8.3 Health and Survival 154 Chapter 9: Customary Rules and Wisdom Related to Conservation 157 9.1 Social and Cultural Aspects of Conservation 157 9.2 Biodiversity Conservation as a Social Institution 158 9.3 Practices and Institutions Under Socioeconomic Changes 160 Chapter 10: Living with Internal and External Diversity 164 10.1 Living with Biodiversity 164 10.2 Risk-Averse and Risk-Prone Subsistence Strategy 165 10.3 Valuing Biodiversity and Ecological Services 168 10.4 Diversity of Conservation Ethics 170 10.5 Internal Diversity and External Inputs 172 Epilogue 175 Appendix 177 Appendix 1: List of plants used in the Roviana, sorted alphabetically by the Roviana name, with observed uses and purposes 177 References 186 Index 196 This book presents a detailed case study of ecological and cultural interactions between the people and their natural environment at Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands, a land of rich biodiversity. This volume documents the subsistence lifestyle of the people and their Indigenous ecological knowledge, analyzes the effects of recent socioeconomic changes on the people and ecosystem, and proposes future directions for sustainability. The contents have been designed to answer questions such as, ĺlWhat kinds of factors have determined whether current human actions are sustainable or will result in a collapse of biocultural diversity in the Solomon Islands?ĺl; ĺlHow do Solomon Islanders recognize nature and biodiversity conservation in traditional ways or under socioeconomic changes?ĺl; and ĺlHow can harmony between humans and nature be achieved in the Solomon Islands under changing socioeconomic conditions?ĺl A truly transdisciplinary approach is applied, integrating theories of human ecology, quantitative ethnobiology, and folk ecology and methods of vegetation surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, remote sensing, and health surveys, in order to link different domains of humans and the natural world. In addition, this work focuses on the importance of understanding of diversity not only in natural environments, but also in human societies, and will be a valuable source for many, especially ecologists, anthropologists, conservation practitioners, and rural development planners This book presents a detailed case study of ecological and cultural interactions between the people and their natural environment at Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands, a land of rich biodiversity. This volume documents the subsistence lifestyle of the people and their indigenous ecological knowledge, analyzes the effects of recent socioeconomic changes on the people and ecosystem, and proposes future directions for sustainability. The contents have been designed to answer questions such as, 2What kinds of factors have determined whether current human actions are sustainable or will result in a collapse of biocultural diversity in the Solomon Islands?3; 2How do Solomon Islanders recognize nature and biodiversity conservation in traditional ways or under socioeconomic changes?3; and 2How can harmony between humans and nature be achieved in the Solomon Islands under changing socioeconomic conditions?3 A truly transdisciplinary approach is applied, integrating theories of human ecology, quantitative ethnobiology, and folk ecology and methods of vegetation surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, remote sensing, and health surveys, in order to link different domains of humans and the natural world. In addition, this work focuses on the importance of understanding of diversity not only in natural environments, but also in human societies, and will be a valuable source for many, especially ecologists, anthropologists, conservation practitioners, and rural development planners This book presents a detailed case study of ecological and cultural interactions between the people and their natural environment at Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands, a land of rich biodiversity. This volume documents the subsistence lifestyle of the people and their indigenous ecological knowledge, analyzes the effects of recent socioeconomic changes on the people and ecosystem, and proposes future directions for sustainability. The contents have been designed to answer questions such as, zWhat kinds of factors have determined whether current human actions are sustainable or will result in a collapse of biocultural diversity in the Solomon Islands?y; zHow do Solomon Islanders recognize nature and biodiversity conservation in traditional ways or under socioeconomic changes?y; and zHow can harmony between humans and nature be achieved in the Solomon Islands under changing socioeconomic conditions?y A truly transdisciplinary approach is applied, integrating theories of human ecology, quantitative ethnobiology, and folk ecology and methods of vegetation surveys, ethnographic fieldwork, remote sensing, and health surveys, in order to link different domains of humans and the natural world. In addition, this work focuses on the importance of understanding of diversity not only in natural environments, but also in human societies, and will be a valuable source for many, especially ecologists, anthropologists, conservation practitioners, and rural development planners Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Biocultural Diversity in Melanesia....Pages 1-14 Ecological History and Regional Context of Roviana....Pages 15-30 Diversity in Landscape....Pages 31-47 Subsistence on the Main Island, Barrier Islands, and at Sea....Pages 49-75 Plant Resources as Ecosystems Services....Pages 77-93 Recognized Webs in Ecosystems....Pages 95-110 Changing Ethnobotanical Knowledge....Pages 111-126 Painful Lessons from Urban Ecology and Economics....Pages 127-137 Customary Rules and Wisdom Related to Conservation....Pages 139-145 Living with Internal and External Diversity....Pages 147-157 Back Matter....Pages 159-190