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Tropical biologists, local people, and conservation: new opportunities for collaboration

Publication Type  Journal Article
Authors  Sheil,; Douglas,; Lawrence, Anna
Journal Title  TRENDS in Ecology and Evolution
Year of Publication  2004
Pages  634-638
Key Words  parataxonomist; parabiologist; phenology
Notes   In this opinion piece, Sheil and Lawrence suggest that training members of the local population where tropical biologists work to become parataxonomists and/or parabiologists is an effective and economic way to document and assess tropical biodiversity. In addition to lowering costs, natural resource managementi and conservation efforts can be improved by involving local populations. The authors note that biologists have been slow in appreciating the benefits of local consultation in scientific projects. One reason for this, the authors assert, is that the successes of ethnobiology in this area are more readily known among anthropologists than among biologists (as ethnobiology is a subdiscipline of anthropology). The authors provide examples of cases where parabiologist-based approaches have been successful (Malaysia, Costa Rica, New Guinea, Brazil, Laos) by increasing number of species known, data quality, conservation efforts, and advocacy. Mutual collaboration among biologists and parabiologists can assist biologists in shifting their emphasis from theory toward reality, and in embracing different ways to understand ?conservation.? Among the challenges to working with local people, Sheil and Lawrence cite the difficulty of finding flexible and long-term grants to conduct collaborative research; the day-to-day management related to working with local staff; intellectual property rights; and data quality. The authors note that prejudices held by biologists against local inputs are particularly testing. These prejudices need to be considered to avoid conservation projects that only pay lip service to local collaboration and participation. In addition, disciplinary obstacles play a role in the reticence observed among biologists to engage in truly collaborative and interdisciplinary work. The authors conclude by encouraging conservation researchers to explore, discuss and assess the quality, validity and ethics of collaborative approaches. Prepared by: Carla Guerr?n Montero (CGM), Assistant Professor Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, July 2006
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