An Introduction to
Biocultural Diversity
Terr a l in g u a
Biocultural Diversity:
Earths Interwoven
Variety
O
Copyright Terralingua 2014
Designed by Ortixia Dilts
Edited by Luisa Maffi and Ortixia Dilts
Introduction
Biocultural Diversity: the True Web of Life
Biocultural Diversity at a Glance
The Biocultural Heritage of Mexico: a Case Study
The World We Want: Ensuring Our Collective
Bioculturally Resilient Future
For More Information
Image Credits: Cover and photo above Cristina Mittermeier,2008; Montage left page Cristina
Mittermeier , 2008 (photos 1, 2), Anna Maffi, 2008 (photo 3), Stanford Zent, 2008 (photo 4).
Introduction
Luisa Maffi
At the same time, Indigenous and local groups on in the field of biocultural diversity. Terralinguas
all continents have been involved in a multiplicity Biocultural Diversity Toolkit is meant to make such
of efforts to restore the eco-cultural health of their resources available in a user-friendly format to those
landscapes and communities. From protection or who are interested in learning more about the concept
restoration of culturally important species, sacred and its practice, as well as about some of the tools and
natural sites, and community conserved areas, to approaches that can assist local and global efforts to
conservation or reintroduction of locally adapted seeds sustain and strengthen the biocultural web of life.
and landraces, to documentation and revitalization
of local languages, oral traditions, and traditional Modified from: Maffi, L. Talking diversity. World Conservation:
knowledge, all these efforts are in effect biocultural The magazine of the World Conservation Union, January 2008:
in nature, as they intrinsically combine cultural 13-14.
affirmation with environmental action.
Research, advocacy, and on-the-ground projects
have had a key role in promoting a biocultural
perspective at international as well as national levels.
Familiarity with and interest in the idea of biocultural
diversity are growing. Time is ripe, then, for bringing
together a number of resources developed over the
a
last several years by Terralingua and others working
Web of Li fe
and culture, an integrated whole formed by biodiversity,
cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity. Diversity in this
fuller sense is the multi-faceted expression of the creative force
and potential of life in both nature and culture, a wellspring of
vitality and resilience for life on the planet. Human societies
B
lifeincluding human lifepossible.
iocultural diversit y is a complex concept.
We need biocultural diversity for the continuity It describes a system of interrelated and
of life on earth. It is a precious gift that should be interdependent diversities: biological, cultural, and
cherished, nurtured, and protected. But we are not linguistic. To understand the concept, it may be useful
doing that. Instead, the world over, we are squandering to first break it down into its three components.
this invaluable and irreplaceable gift. Global economic,
Biological diversityor biodiversityis the aspect
political, and social forces are rapidly eroding the
of biocultural diversity that people are generally more
health of the worlds ecosystems and cultures, and
familiar with. Biodiversity is the total variety of living
silencing the voices of the worlds languages. The
organisms found in a given ecosystem, biome, or the
fabric of life in nature and culture is coming unraveled,
whole biosphere. It can be measured in a number of
leaving our biocultural world ever more fragile and the
ways: at the level of species, of their habitats, and of
outlook for humans and all other species increasingly
their genes. Species richness (the number of species
uncertain.
in a given area or globally) is the most commonly
We are witnessing a converging extinction used measure of biodiversity. Because most species
crisis of diversity in nature and cultureand it is have not yet been identified and classified, estimates
a crisis entirely of our making. We have become so of the number of species on earth have varied greatly.
disconnected from the natural world, that we are Recent estimates suggest that there may be as many
destroying the conditions for lifeas if life itself were as 8.7 million species of animals, plants, fungi, and
expendable. And at the same time, we are suppressing protists (single-celled organisms) in the world today
other lifeways that could teach us lessons about more (plus perhaps 10,000 species of bacteria and archaea),
sustainable living. We may delude ourselves that our of which only slightly over 1.2 million have been
technologies will always come to the rescue; but the catalogued.
reality is that, in the end, nobody on the planet is
Cultural diversity is the variety of human cultures,
immune from the fraying of the biocultural web of life.
that is, the variety of worldviews, lifeways, knowledge
That means that the effort to protect, restore, and and value systems, practices and forms of expression
sustain the diversity of life in nature and culture is displayed by different human societies. Some have
a cause we all do and must share, no matter who we suggested that the total diversity of the worlds cultures
are and where and how we live. This effort requires a forms an ethnosphere a global web of human
profound shift in values, to make biocultural diversity cultures. How many different cultures there are in
a fundamental societal goal. This may sound like the world is difficult to quantify, because cultural
a tall order, but it is entirely possible, as our values boundaries are permeable, and many cultural traits
are entirely of our own makingand history tells us overlap across multiple social groups. Due to these
that human societies have shifted their values many complexities, commonly the number of different
times before. Yet, in the world today powerful forces languages is used as a proxy for the diversity of
continue to push us in the opposite, unsustainable cultures. This is because language is a fundamental
direction. What we need to turn the tide is meaningful marker of cultural identity and the main tool for the
educationnot just information, but education of the transmission of culture.
kind that deepens knowledge and transforms minds
Linguistic diversity is the variety of human
and hearts. We cannot care for biocultural diversity
languages spoken in a given region, or in the world as a
unless we intimately understand its importance and
whole. While linguists sometimes disagree as to what is
value for ourselves and for all of life. Only once we
a language and what is a dialect, the general consensus
achieve that understanding, can we be better prepared
is that there are about 6-7,000 living languages in the
to take action.
world. It is estimated that most of these languages expressed and transmitted through the thousands of
(80% to 85%) are spoken by indigenous peoples. The different languages spoken on our planet.
diversity of the worlds languages forms yet another This is how language, culture, and the environment
global web, which some have called a logosphere. are inextricably interrelated. In each place, the local
environment sustains people; in turn, people sustain
Interlinkages the local environment through the traditional
knowledge, values, and practices embedded in their
L anguage, culture, and the environment are cultures and their languages.
interrelated. Since the dawn of human history, This interrelationship is still especially apparent in
everywhere on earth people have interacted closely indigenous and local communities that maintain close
with the natural environment as the source of all material and spiritual ties with their environments.
sustenance: the source of air, water, food, medicine, Traditional ecological knowledge and practices,
clothing, shelter, and all other material needs, as well accumulated over generations, often make indigenous
as of physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being. peoples and local communities highly skilled and
Through this vital dependence on the environment, respectful stewards of the ecosystems in which they
over time human societies have developed detailed live. Indigenous and local languages store and transmit
local knowledge about plants, animals, and ecological this knowledge and the related social behaviors,
processes, as well as specific cultural values and practices, and innovations.
practices about human relationships with nature. This The local interdependence of language, culture, and
diversity of local knowledge, values, and practices is the environment translates into strong correlations
F
is their right to walk toward the future in the footsteps or that reason, it should be self-evident that the
of their ancestors. best way to conserve the diversity of life on Earth
For humanity at large, the loss of cultural and is to ensure that it does not get depleted in the first
linguistic diversity represents a drastic reduction of our place, and that cultures, languages, and ecosystems can
collective human heritage, a profound diminishment of continue to thrive and be vital and resilient. Our best
our understanding of what it means to be human. Our hopes for the future reside in peacefully, equitably, and
horizon as a species becomes all the narrower for that. respectfully sharing a world of difference in nature and
culture, for the benefit of all humans and all of life.
Second, we are losing both the rich biodiversity
that supports humanity and all other species, and the Yet, so much damage has been done already to
wealth of traditional knowledge that helps sustain the biocultural web of life, that all too often we find
biodiversity. It is a matter of survival. Yet, more than ourselves confronted with eleventh hour salvage efforts
half of humanity now lives in urban environments, to rescue whatever pieces are left of this invaluable
largely cut off from direct contact with the natural fabric that evolution has woven around the globe. All
environment and from awareness of our continued, too often, it is too late. Once certain biological and
inescapable interdependence with it. Some talk of social thresholds are crossed, no amount of technology
this as the extinction of experience of the natural or social engineering can bring back what is lost. As
environment. Others suggest that many city dwellers, the web of life continues to fray, there is no telling
and especially children, are suffering from nature when we may be crossing a global threshold for the
deficit disorder. continuity of life as we know it.
In this time of crisis, we need to be reminded that We must reverse this dangerous trend. And indeed,
we have become disconnected from and out of balance all over the world, thousands and thousands of people
with the natural environment. We need to be reminded are working to make this happen. From indigenous
that there are other ways of being human that are more peoples and local communities striving to safeguard
harmonious with nature. We need to hear all the voices their lands, languages, and ways of life, to the many
of the earth and the ancestral wisdom that they express committed others who are devoted to the cause at
about living sustainably on this planet. local, regional, and global levels, there is a growing
movement underway to stop and reverse biocultural
This diversity of solutions itself offers the most
diversity loss. These efforts focus on preventing further
poignant lesson to be learned from a biocultural
damage, so that the ailing web of life can heal and
perspective. Cultural diversity is not a matter of
regenerate.
superficial, if esthetically pleasing, exotic f lavours;
rather, it is the deep reflection of human creativity Some of these efforts concentrate on reviving and
and inventiveness put to the service of enduring issues revitalizing local languages and cultural identities,
of adapation and, increasingly, of pressing issues others on bolstering traditional environmental
of planetary survival. Losing biocultural diversity knowledge and practices, others still on rekindling
place-based belief and value systems and strengthening along with continuity--continuity of identity, and
traditional institutions of governance, land tenure, continuity of connectedness of people to people and
and resource management that enable socially and people to place. It is this dynamic interplay of change
ecologically sustainable living. The volumes in and continuity that confers resilience to both humans
this Toolkit are meant to exemplify this variety of and the rest of the natural world. It is not surprising,
approaches and some of the initiatives that are being then, that some of the best biocultural conservation
undertaken the world over. efforts being made today highlight the vital importance
Crucial to all these endeavors is intergenerational of intergenerational transmission, and of ensuring that
continuity, the continued transmission of languages, the link across generations is maintained or restored.
traditional knowledge, cultural values and practices, Many of these efforts are entirely endogenous
and institutions. Cultures and languages are not static, generated and conducted from within indigenous and
they are dynamic systems that are constantly changing local communities that have taken action in their own
and innovating to adapt to new situations. But when hands. Many, too, are the fruit of mutually respectful
cultural and linguistic change is not forced, it happens collaborative partnerships with outsiders. Both kinds
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Harmon, D. 2002. In Light of Our Differences: How Diversity in Nature and Culture Makes Us Human. Washington, DC: Smithsonian
Institution Press.
Harmon, D. and Loh, J. 2010. The Index of Linguistic Diversity: A New Quantitative Measure of Trends in the Status of the Worlds
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Integrated Approach to Conserving the Worlds Biological and Cultural Diversity, and companion map Indigenous and Traditional
Peoples and the Global 200 Ecoregions. Gland, Switzerland: WWF-International and Terralingua.
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Linguistic Cultural
Diversity Diversity
Biological Diversity
Biological diversity or biodiversity is the
biological variety of life on earth: animals,
plants, their habitats, and their genes. It
comprises the total variety of ecosystems
and living organisms found in a given region
or in the whole biosphere.
Biodiversity is a complex phenomenon
with many interrelated dimensions. Species
richness (the number of species in a given
area or globally) is often used to provide a (Photo iStockphoto)
simple measure of biodiversity.
There may be as many as 8.7 million species of animals, plants, fungi, and
single-celled organisms in the world today.
Linguistic Diversity
Linguistic diversity is the variety of human
languages spoken in a specific region, or in
the world as a whole. There are about 6-7,000
different languages in the world today, forming a
global web of languages, or logosphere.
Language and culture are interlinked. Language
is the main tool for the transmission of culture. It
is also a fundamental marker of cultural identity. AW
L A ORL
NG D
In turn, language and culture are intimately linked U A OF
GE
to the environment. Each language expresses S
the specific cultural world view, values, beliefs,
and knowledge of its speakers including vital
knowledge about the environment and about
human relationships with nature. (Image: M. Aguila and D. Dilts 2011 Terralingua)
19
Understanding the Connections
To understand the connections between
biological, cultural, and linguistic
diversity, we first need to think of how
people in different cultures around the
world interact with nature.
Each human society derives all the
material and non-material necessities
for life from the local environment. In
so doing, each society develops specific
cultural knowledge and practices
about the environment. This cultural
knowledge and practices are reflected in
and communicated through language. (Photo: S. Zent, 2010)
Introduction
S tudies from different disciplinary backgrounds are revealing the inextricable links between
cultural, biological and agricultural diversity at global, national, regional and local scales (Maffi,
2005). These multidimensional and complex relations are named biocultural diversity. In some way,
these links represent the (biocultural) memoryof the human species, because they are the present-
day expression of a long historical legacy of interrelations between humans and nature (Toledo and
Barrera-Bassols, 2008). At the country level, the conjunction of these three dimensions represents
the nations biocultural heritage, and it is revealed through the geographical analysis of wild plant
and animal species, languages, domesticated organisms, and especially territories of indigenous
and local peoples.
In this essay, we offer an overview of the biocultural heritage of Mexico, through the discussion
of three main topics: (i) a brief description of biological, linguistic and agricultural diversities; (ii)
the definition, identification and mapping ofbiocultural hotspotsin the Mexican territory; and (iii) a
rapid review of the main grassroots initiatives and projects engaged in the multiple defense of biotic
resources, germplasm, language, cultural identity, local livelihoods and territory. Our national-scale
review synthesizes decades of work carried out by Mexican researchers and foreign colleagues about
the main components of biocultural richness of Mexico.
BIO-DIVERSITY ETHNO-DIVERSITY
(number of species) (number of languages)
Figure 1 . The six top countries in terms of biocultural richness. Numbers indicate the ranking
position of countries in biological and language diversity.
3. Agricultural diversity
Another substantive feature of biocultural diversity in
Mexico is that it constitutes one of the 12 Vavilov centers, or
centers of origin of the domestication and diversification
of plants in the world. This Mesoamerican effort of plant
domestication comprises 15% of the crops that are currently
consumed in the world. Such effort is fundamentally based
in the domestication of maize, an emblematic icon of
Mesoamerica, accompanied by another 110 species that include
the tomato, chocolate, vanilla, bean, squash, and chile pepper.
This region also excels in adaptation to the heterogeneity of
the landscape through the design and implementation of the
multi-croppedmilpasystem. Themilpais an agricultural field
characterized by the planting of a triad of crops, maize-bean-
squash, which on occasion is accompanied by up to ten to
twenty associated species.
The BioculturalHotspots
Figure 3. Percentage of the remaining primary vegetation of Mexico located within indigenous territories.
After Boege, 2008.
In the last two decades, a growing movement Struggles for the Preservation
of cultural resistance has made Mexico the first
producer of certified organic coffee in the world. of Native Maize
It is estimated that almost 300,000 hectares are
dedicated to growing traditional coffee gardens.
Today there are 350,000 small-scale coffee
growers in Mexico, mainly in the states of Chiapas,
T he genetic contamination of native maize
that has been discovered in indigenous
territories and peasant communities of Mexico
Veracruz, Puebla, Guerrero and Oaxaca. These during the last decade, and the imminent arrival
growers produce 40 percent of the total national of genetically modified maize to Mexican parcels,
coffee production, and almost all of the organic have caused an uprising of unusual resistance
shaded coffee. In the state of Chiapas, for instance, all over the country (Barrera-Bassols et al, 2009)
107,000 coffee growers, two-thirds of whom belong (Figure 5). Such movement at a national scale has
to indigenous communities, and many of whom been nurtured by urban, peasant, and indigenous
produce certified organic coffee through over claims synthesized in the slogan without maize
100 local and regional cooperatives, are strategic there is no country (sin maiz no hay pais).
social actors for any biological conservation project Within the framework of this social struggle, an
(Toledo, 2003). ensemble of local actions, undertaken by a diverse
I
Anthropol. 29: 599-617.
n a country that is profoundly characterized
by its biocultural richness, it is difficult to Moguel P. and V. M. Toledo. 1999. Biodiversity conservation in
traditional coffee systems of Mexico. Conservation Biology 13: 11-21.
design any conservation policies without taking
into account the profound relationship that has Moguel P. and V. M. Toledo. 2004. Conservar produciendo:
biodiversidad, caf organico y jardines productivos. Biodiversitas 55:
existed since time immemorial between nature 1-7. www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/Biodiversitas/Articulos/
and culture. In Mexico, each species of plants and
animals, each type of soil and landscape nearly Ortega-Paczka, R. 2003. La diversidad del maz en Mxico. In: Esteva,
G. and C. Marielle (eds) Sin Maz no hay Pas. Culturas populares,
always has a corresponding linguistic expression, Mxico.
a category of knowledge, a practical use, a religious
Oviedo, G., L. Maffi, and P.B. Larsen. 2000. Indigenous and Traditional
meaning, a role in ritual, and an individual Peoples of the World and Ecoregion Conservation: An Integrated
or collective vitality. To safeguard the natural Approach to Conserving the Worlds Biological and Cultural Diversity,
heritage of a country without safeguarding the and companion map Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and the
Global 200 Ecoregions. Gland, Switzerland: WWF-International and
cultures that have given it shape and meaning is to Terralingua.
reduce nature to something beyond recognition
Perales, H., B.F. Benz and S.Brush. 2005. Maize diversity and linguistic
static, distant, nearly dead. Similarly, it is not diversity in Chiapas, Mexico. Proceedings of the National Academy of
possible to safeguard cultures while destroying the Sciences (PNAS) 102: 949-954.
surrounding nature that support them and gives
Toledo, V.M. 2003. Los pueblos indgenas, actores estratgicos para
meaning to their existence. That is a simple but el Corredor Biolgico Mesoamericano. Biodiversitas 47: 8-15. www.
inescapable and vital principle. biodiversidad.gob.mx/Biodiversitas/Articulos/
Conservation: A Global Sourcebook 19 . Many such verge of flipping into a new, potentially irreversible
examples come from indigenous peoples who statelike a switch from coral- to algae-dominated
maintain biocultural systems worldwide through systems, from rainforest to savannah, from
nurturing an intimate relationship with their commons to private property, from subsistence
traditional territories, something that our modern to market-based economy, from relationships to
societies have all but forgotten. consumption. Functional overlap is a reflection
The essential feature of biocultural systems that of redundancy in the system that enhances its
has ensured their persistence in time and space continuity when some of its elements undergo
has been their resilience20. Prominent resilience changefor example carbon sequestration by
scientist Dr. Brian Walker describes resilience as different parts of an ecosystem; traditional diets
the propensity of a system to learn, adapt, self- based on varied sources of protein; or subsistence
organize (through co-evolution between different harvest regulated through different governance
sub-systems) and absorb change without losing arrangements. Substantial social capital in the
its functional integrity 21 . Resilient systems are form of trusted social networks, wise leadership,
characterized by a diversity of patterns, functions, intergenerational transmission of knowledge, an
and processes that ensures a wide range of equitable integration of different ways of knowing
responses to external or internal challengesfrom into decision-making also allows for diverse
nutrient cycles to ecological niches, from inter- systemic responses to change.
and intra-specific variability to richness among Maintaining and enhancing the resilience of
and within languages, from epistemologies to biocultural systems is fundamental to sustaining
traditional institutions of governance. social and ecological systems and achieving the
communities, ecological refugia, pastoral networks) The current trajectory of humankinds progress
throughout a system that reduces its over- however, is pushing us outside of what the
connectedness and therefore enhances its ability researchers from the Stockholm Resilience Center
to resist rapid transmission of environmental describe as the planetary boundaries and away
24
and social shocks. Tight feedback loops between from a future that is resilient and endowed with
various elements of biocultural systems enable biocultural diversity.
detection of approaching tipping points, or Several factors limit our ability to correct our
thresholds22 , long before the system is on the course toward a more bioculturally resilient world:
David Harmon
Co-founder, Terralingua
dharmon@georgewright. org
Website:
www.terralingua.org
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Terralinguas Biocultural Diversity Toolkit project
O
was supported by the Swift Foundation.
We also acknowledge the general support of The Christensen
Fund (TCF) and the Kalliopeia Foundation.
--Report of the International Conference on Biological and Cultural Diversity for Development. Tenth
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10),
Nagoya, Japan, 18-29 October 2010. UNEP/CBD/COP/10/INF/3.
Te r r alingua
unity in biocultural diversity