Traditional knowledge guides protection of planetary health in Finland

Mooi dit. De Finse Saami-bevolking werkt samen met wetenschappers om de natuur in Noord-Finland te ‘rewilden’. Deze mensen leven al eeuwen veel dichter op de natuur waardoor ze kennis hebben van ecosystemen en cycli die moderne wetenschappers tot voor kort niet hadden.

“the village fisherfolk of Selkie and Alavi in North Karelia acted as an Arctic ecological early-warning system when they noticed two massive fish die-offs, both which had gone undetected by authorities. Researchers quickly joined with the communities to address the crisis.

Historical knowledge about the fish, animals and plants revealed the changes to the environment that had taken place: for example, the ecological indicator species freshwater crayfish and brown trout had disappeared from the system well before the 1980s — a fact unknown to scientists. And present day traditional knowledge observations led the science teams to discover an unknown population of brook lampreys in the basin, which provided critically important ecological data about the area.”