CBIK, the Centre for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge, is a non-profit membership organization based in Kunming , Yunnan province of P.R. China . It has more than 100 members from different institutions including research professionals, development practitioners and resource managers. CBIK focuses on biodiversity conservation and community development through projects in social, economic and environmental development with emphasis on the relevance of indigenous knowledge to resource management at community and watershed levels. It regards ethnic minorities as socio-cultural assets in the development process as these are knowledgeable conservationists of both biological diversity, as well as the nurturing of diverse landscapes. The future of these ethnic minorities depends on the sustainable development of their livelihood, cultures and biodiversity. Thus CBIK seeks to enable local groups to strengthen their evolving cultural traditions as well as generate innovative ways to improve their livelihoods and enhance biodiversity through interdisciplinary research, capacity building and participatory approaches that nurture intercultural dialogue among people of varying local and scientific cultures, languages and knowledge systems in Southwest China .
Web address: www.cbik.org / www.cbik.ac.cn
Research Areas:
Watershed Governance Programme: Aims to devise resource management policies for sustaining the capacity of entire watersheds, as well as for cooperation between groups of communities and different ethnic groups in the watershed. The main objectives include assessing human and resource dynamics in mountain watersheds; assessing social norms, regulations and laws in nature resource management to indigenous values and decision making processes; and to focus on local people's livelihood strategies with emphasis on sustainability and vulnerability.
Community Livelihoods Programme: Aims to strengthen the community's indigenous knowledge, practices and institutions as well as to increase awareness of sustainable resource management and biodiversity conservation. This programme links community members' perceived needs, skills and resources with new methodologies, and also the technology of scientists and extension workers using an approach of Participatory Technology Development (PTD) in order to improve the community's livelihood.
Indigenous Knowledge Programme: Focuses on local communities' knowledge of plants, animals, ecosystems and their uses, including the practices that have contributed to conserving biodiversity and the cultural principles guiding resource use. The activities in this programme seek to support indigenous knowledge (IK) and the conservation of biodiversity.
SUMERNET representatives:
Ms. Qian Jie
Deputy Director, CBIK
qianjie@cbik.ac.cn
Mr. Andreas Wilkes
Program manager, CBIK
andy@cbik.ac.cn |
