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Transmission of traditional ecological knowledge and its
possible "modern" uses in nature conservation
Molnár, Zsolt
MTA Centre for Ecological Research
Fotó: Babai Dániel
Painting by László Neogrády
Learning from 55 mountain peasants
Learning from 92 steppe herders for agriculture and conservation
Landscapes shaped by people possessing a rich ILK
Definitions (ILK, TEK, LEK etc.)
Indigenous / traditional knowledge (ILK) (adapted from Berkes 2012):
– a cumulative body of knowledge and practices anchored within
specific worldviews,
– handed down by generations through cultural processes,
– adapted and re-appropriated by each generation/individual,
– about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with
one another and with their environment.
ILK experts/holders from Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities
– societies/groups with close ties to their natural environment,
– possessing knowledge accumulated and transmitted across
generations (written, oral, tacit, practical, and scientific)
ILK experts
– scientists/NGO people etc. who study ILK and/or work with ILK
The four levels of traditional ecological knowledge
species, habitats
land use
and its effect
social institutions
world view
Berkes 1999 (slightly modified)
A UNITED NATION’s program:
Intergovernmental Science-policy Platform
for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
IPBES acknowledges local, indigenous, traditional knowledge systems,
local herders’ and farmers’ understanding of nature and agroecosystems.
Synergy of knowledge systems:
science + local/traditional knowledge + practical knowledge + etc.
Tengö M. et al. (2014): Connecting diverse knowledge systems for enhanced ecosystem
governance: the multiple evidence base approach. Ambio 43: 579-591.
Meeting of knowledge systems in the field
Fikret Berkes
Vadász Csaba
Local conservation ranger
Scientist, trad. resource management
Zs. M.
Máté János
Botanist, ethnoecologist
Cattle herder
Study sites of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Gömör
Bereg
Tisza-mente
Balatonfelvidék
Őrség
Szilágyság
Turjánvidék
Zala
Moldva
Hortobágy
Gyimes
Mura-vidék
Nagyberek
Kalotaszeg
Kiskunság
Somogy
Kászon
Kopácsi-rét
Babai Dániel
Béres Sándor
Biró Marianna
Demeter László
Gellény Krisztina
Miókovics Eszter
Molnár Krisztina
Molnár Zsolt
Tóth Antónia
Ujházy Noémi
Ulicsni Viktor
Varga Anna
Interviewing…
Data and knowledge
gathering techniques
by in-door and
out-door interviews
Data and knowledge
gathering techniques
by participation
ca. 29
grass/sedge-like taxa
are distinguished
tippan
tippan
kík/veres tippan
Festuca pseudovina
Poa
angustifolia
selyemfű,
bundaszőr,
meszelőtippan
F. rupicola
libatippan
Poa bulbosa szurkos tippan, mancsifű
ca. 29
grass/sedge-like
taxa
perje
tarack
kárászperje
perje tarack
Alopecurus
geniculatus
Alopecurus Elymus
pratensis repens
cigánybúza, mancsa
tarack
Cynodon
dactylon
(szíki tippan)
Lolium perenne
Hordeum murinum
Hordeum geniculatum
Pholiurus
vadzab
vadzab
Puccinellia
csenkesz, vetett fű
Arrhenatherum
Sclerochloa
muhar
Koeleria
Bromus
Agropyron pectiniforme
árvalányhaj
Stipa pennata agg.
Stipa capillata
Setaria
S. Echinochloa
pumila viridis crus-galli
sás, háromélű sás
kutyaherélő sás
C. acutiformis
csattogó
fehérlevelű sás
gyíkíny
Calamagrostis
mogyorógy. liliomgy.
T.
latifolia
rafiagy.
Typha
laxmannii
T.
angustifolia
Glyceria
maxima
Glyceria fluitans
nád
Phragmites
csenkesz
Festuca
pratensis,
arundinacea
Dactylis
sás, fenyer, csádé, káka …
komócsin
Phalaris
Ventenata
hordeaceus,
dubia
tectorum,
sterilis,
commutatus
muhar talpas muhar
Bromus
inermis
Phleum
káka
Schoenoplectus
(fekete) káka
Juncus
Eleocharis
conglomeratus
csetkáka
Bolboschoenus
fenyer
C. stenophylla
fenyer
C. praecox
komócsin
komócsin
Agrostis
Beckmannia
Phalaris
Calamagrostis
Herders’ folk habitats of a Hungarian steppe (Hortobágy)
nádas, gyíkínyes, zsombikos, fertő
telek, állás
lapos, perjés, tocsogó
bíbicbaszta főd
marikkal rakott főd
szíkfok
ürmös
szíkporong
szíksavas szűz főd
szíkpadka
vakszík
juhászpadka
tippanos
Molnár Zs. (2013): Traditional vegetation knowledge of the Hortobágy salt steppe: a neglected
source of information for vegetation science and conservation. Phytocoenologia 43: 193-205.
Habitats along the soil gradient: from marshes to dry steppe
Molnár Zs. (2013): Traditional vegetation knowledge of the Hortobágy salt steppe: a neglected
source of information for vegetation science and conservation. Phytocoenologia 43: 193-205.
Local people know 200-250 folk plant species and name many habitats:
142-148 folk habitats in one single valley – world record!
gyakor erdő
karós erdő
szelhás, fenyőerdő
gyéres erdő
erdőszél
leveles erdő, bikkfás
ördögbordás
szőrcsés
bezseny, cseplesz
selymék
bojtos
reglő
nyíres
Babai D., Molnár Zs. (2013): Multidimensionality and scale in a landscape ethnoecological
partitioning in a mountainous landscape (Gyimes, Carpathians). J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomed. 9: 11.
We can learn how to manage (monitor and subsidise)?
Typha removal
litter removal
marsh grazing
Calamagrostis
removal
Local techniques of grassland management
„Look, they are spread out so nicely!”
„ The sheep does not eat with his legs!”
Molnár Zs. (2014): Perception and management of spatio-temporal pasture hetero-geneity
by Hungarian herders. Rangeland Ecology and Management 67: 107-118.
legelTET= motivate it to graze
Tóth Gyula
How to manage a pasture by grazing?
deliberate trampling of litter and tall grass
in late spring after a wet year, …
…, to get fresh second growth in late summer in a droughty year
Molnár et al. (2015): Common and conflicting objectives and practices of herders and nature
conservation managers: the need for the ’conservation herder’. Ecosystem Health and
Sustainability (under review)
Concious management of ecosystem services: „If a marsh is
trampled down well in spring, the regrowth can be grazed
after summer rains.”
Tóth Gyula
managing tall-grass meadow steppes for nature conservation
Herders and dogs work together
Extensive pig grazing: effect on forest dynamics?
Almost extict: Marsilea quadrifolia (a water fern)
needs trampled, muddy, warm and shallow riverbeds
HERDERS OF THE HORTOBÁGY PUSZTA
„I see my pasture through the mouth
of the sheep.”
Management of pastures by
• rotational grazing
• protecting Festuca (tipcsak)
• trampling marshes/sedges
• selective irradication of weeds
• manuring by resting
• etc.
Photos: Molnár, Ábel
Molnár Zs. (2014): Perception and management of spatio-temporal pasture heterogeneity
by Hungarian herders. Rangeland Ecology and Management 67: 107-118.
Hayseed is used to improve hay quantity and quality
Hay cutting
Meadows
Storing in barns
Feeding animals
Seeds, broken leaves and dust
Scattering on meadows
Collection of hayseed
Full of viable seeds
Storing hayseed
Babai D., Molnár Zs. (2014): Small-scale traditional management of highly species-rich
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grasslands in the Carpathians. Agriculture, Ecology and Environment 182: 123–130.
Unconscientious management of biodiversity
Optimize seed and biomass production (different parcels are
mown first/last from season to season) - EU regulations do
not permit this!!!!
Babai D., Molnár Zs. (2014): Small-scale traditional management of highly species-rich
grasslands in the Carpathians. Agriculture, Ecology and Environment 182: 123–130.
People
How
to learn
these from
people
forlearn?
IPBES
ORIGIN OF FOLK PLANT NAMES OF THE HORTOBÁGY STEPPE
90% native names
6% „gesunkenes”
from scientific literature
origin not known:
4%
almost science-independent nomenclature!
by direct teaching (my father told me the names…)
by doing, teaching
by being
with animals
by working with family members
by discussing
by observation
„You have to feel with your animals!”
by observation
„You have to feel with your animals!”
Old and young ILK holders
often have different
understandings, but not
always.
Tóth Gyula and Máté János
„I learnt from Life not from books!”
Traditional knowledge
vs.
Hybrid knowledge
„I like reading ethnography.”
Árvai Sándor
Papp László
Documentation of weather events and precipitation
by modern ways... (from tourists, ethnobiologists…)
books on grassland management
TV, internet, facebook
surprisingly little info on ecological aspects, pastures
using ICT, e.g. smart phones
Agri-environmental schemes vs. ILK/TEK
EU failed
- Pe’er et al. (2014): EU agricultural reform fails on biodiversity.
Science 344: 1090-1092.
- de Snoo et al. (2013): Toward effective nature conservation on
farmland: making farmers matter. Conservation Letters 6: 66-72.
- Baldi, A., & Batary, P. (2011). Spatial heterogeneity and farmland
birds: different perspectives in Western and Eastern Europe. Ibis
153: 875-876.
- Kleijn et al. (2006): Mixed biodiversity benefits of agri-environment
schemes in five European countries. Ecology Letters 9: 243-254.
Agri-environmental schemes vs. ILK/TEK
Comments from an ILK/TEK perspective
- Lack of studies on farmers’ ecological knowledge, motivations,
attitudes - especially in East-Central Europe
- Lack of studies on biodiversity-friendly traditional farming
practices and their social and ecological embeddedness
- Unexpected side-effects on traditional farming practices
- Unexpected side-effects of subsidies on human-human, humannature and human-livestock interactions
Pre-cooperatives
( - 1950)
Type of management
Cooperatives
(1960 - 1990)
Postcooperatives
(1995 - )
Traditional ways of pasture improvements
grazing
rotation, portioning
grazing from well to well
manuring by the translocation of resting places
manuring
burning
removal of spiny plants
draining by small ditches
Modern ways of pasture improvements
artificial fertilisation
soil improvement by chemicals
Harrowing, discing
sowing of grasslands
irrigation of grasslands
electric or fixed fences
draining by ditch networks
Molnár Zs. (2014): Perception and management of spatio-temporal pasture heterogeneity by Hungarian herders. Rangeland Ecology and Management 67: 107-118.
PROPOSAL for a new EU agricultural regulation package
for mountain hay meadows e.g. for Maramures and
Gyimes based on local traditional management
Allowed, compulsory
- Mowing only by small machines or by hand
Logical, but never
introduced
- Start mowing after 15th July
- Mow only once a year
- Scattering of hayseeds and Onobrychis is allowed
- Grass below solitary trees must be mown
- Translocation of ant hills to boundaries is allowed
- Grazing cattle and horse on second growth is allowed
Not allowed
- Overseeding, herbicide application, manuring, irrigation
- To change meadows into pastures, sheep grazing
- To mow twice a year
- To fell trees between 20–35 cm in diameter
Babai et al. (2015): Do conservation and agri-environmental regulations support
effectively traditional small-scale farming in East-Central European cultural
landscapes? Biodiversity and Conservation (on-line first)
Wood pastures
Fotó: Molnár Ábel
Varga A., Ódor P., Molnár Zs., Bölöni J. (2015): The history and natural regeneration of a secondary
oak-beech woodland on a former wood-pasture in Hungary. Acta Soc. Botanicorum Poloniae, in print.
Co-design of research projects (Tengö et al. 2014)
Botanist-conservationist-herder cooperation:
Grazing preference of meat cattle on species rich pastures…
Grazing preference of herded meat cattle
in species-rich grasslands
Ten ways of preference
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Steps to reach it
Turns head to reach it
Likes it, eats patiently
Eats with more tasty plants
Just picks
Starts eating but releases
Smells but does not eat
Turns away, eats what is beneath
Lets it fall out from mouth
Shakes out from mouth
Interviewing knowledgeable herders about the preference.
János Máté, cattle herder
József
Péntek
Péntek,
Józsefherd guide
Exclosures for comparisons: grasses were grazed, Inula salicina hardly.
Preference in spring (May-June) compared to autumn (Aug.-Oct.)
A preferred plant (Molinia coerulea) on the second day of grazing.
Phragmites australis: preferred between late spring and early autumn.
Unusual preference:
one day six cattle were searching for Schoenoplectus lacustris.
Eating Frangula alnus (last 10 cm of twigs with leaves)
Photo: András Máthé
Flowers are eaten, dry fruits are avoided (Iris sibirica).
Protection by Schoenus nigricans.
What is protecting?
The litter (the last year’s leaves).
(Schoenus nigricans)
Drying Veratrum album plants protect Betonica officinalis flowers.
Flowers often protect the leaves of Fabaceae species.
(Lotus corniculatus)
Almost eaten… (Centaurea spp., Ranunculus spp.)
BIODIVERSITY
SPECIES RICH MEADOWS
GRAZING
MODERATE
GRAZING…
HEALTH
BIO + GRASS-FED MEAT
CATTLE
SEEDED SPECIES ARE STUDIED
LOLIUM PERENNE AND TRIFOLIUM
REPENS: TOGETHER OR SEPARATE?
PREFERENCE IF THERE ARE
100-150 SPECIES….
HUNDREDS OF TOUSANDS OF
HECTARES SPECIES RICH
GRASSLANDS
PROFITABILITY
AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES
Further research possibilities
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Forage quality for 150 species
Difference between herds
Effects of herders
In other landscapes…
Facilitation
Research camp: June 19-27. 2016 [email protected]
CONCLUSIONS
There are different understandings of the environment
(scientific and local/traditional/practical etc.)
Rich traditional ecological knowledge on grassland
management in East-Central Europe
Special methodology and methods are needed to study it
Useful ideas for strategic, non-conventional planning of
extensive sustainable grazing systems
East-Central Europe should learn a lot from its own traditional
past to conserve biocultural diversity
Many young people relearn folk traditions incl. farming, let’s
help them to modernize traditions into the 21th century