NGOs, indigenous peoples and local knowledge issues of powe.pdf

NGOs, indigenous peoples and local
knowledge: issues of power in the
arena of biodiversity
Marie Roue´
Most of the papers collected here were first ‘‘Those who share a bed
presented at a seminar held at UNESCO in Paris dream different dreams’’
on 27–28 May 2002. The seminar – which was
convened by the ‘‘Appropriation and Socialisa- (Vietnamese saying, reported
tion of Nature’’ research team, with the support by Dinh Trong Hieˆ u)
of the Environment Programme of RS
(Centre national de la recherche scientifique) and When indigenous peoples, NGOs, and devel-
the UNESCO LI-NKS project (Local and opers share a place, they deploy profoundly
Indigenous Knowledge Systems) – brought different views and practices with respect to
together anthropologists, political scientists, nature. In this issue, some paths for research will
economists, and ecologists in order to under- be identified paring encounters that have
stand the relations between indigenous knowl- taken place in very different contexts over the
edge and NGOs with respect to the preservation past thirty years. The researchers taking the risk
of biodiversity. Since the traditional ecological of such exploratory work, almost in step with the
knowledge of local and indigenous peoples was events themselves, have the benefit neither of
recognised in Agenda 21 and the Convention on cumulative long-term observation nor