Prediction and management of natural disasters through indigenous Technical Knowledge, with special reference to fisheries

Abstract

Traditional Indigenous knowledge has over the years played a significant role in solving several major social-ecological problems including those related to climate change and variability. People living close to nature often observe the circumstances around them and are the often the first to identify and adapt to any changes. The appearance of certain birds, mating of certain animals and flowering of certain plants are all seen as important signals of change with respect to timing and seasonality of natural phenomena that are well understood in traditional knowledge systems. Indigenous and local peoples have relied on biodiversity as a buffer against environmental variation, change and catastrophe. In the face of plague, if one crop fails, another will survive. In coping with risks associated with excessive rainfall, drought or crop failure, some traditional people grow a wide diversity of crop species and varieties with differential susceptibility to drought and floods and supplement their crops by hunting, fishing and collecting wild food plants. The diversity of crops and food resources is often matched by a similar diversity in the locating of fields - a safety measure to increase the likelihood that in the face of extreme weather at least some of the fields will be able to produce harvestable crops. Indigenous Technical Knowledge has three main aspects – materials, operations or practices, and institutional systems responsible for the implementation of the knowledge. The materials which are connected with the Indigenous Knowledge are the traditional seeds, medicines and pesticides collected from the plants and animals, the tools used in livelihood such as gears and crafts in fishing. Thus traditional indigenous communities will undoubtedly need additional support to coup up with the natural disastrous, their expertise will offer a great help for the effective management of natural disasters in future.