Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Fire Management In The Top End And The Kimberley, Katie Brownson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Wildfire is becoming an increasingly big problem in the Top End and Kimberley region. In the last fire season, a region the size of Victoria and Tasmania combined burned (Gardner, 2005). This tendency towards extremely intense and extensive Late dry season wildfires is having serious economic and environmental impacts. While all land use objectives depend on healthy county, many people with more economic interests in the land fail to understand the complex ecological effects of fire, and the implications of these effects on their land use goals. Aboriginal people, on the other hand, have a very good handle on the …

The Role Of Malagasy Women In Community Development: Analyzing The Potential For The Creation Of A Women’S Association For Alternative Livelihoods In Ifaty, Amanda Fencl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Integrated Conservation and development projects (ICDPs) have increased in number worldwide as conservation organizations have to come to terms with the importance of involving and addressing the needs of local human populations to order to achieve their conservation goals. Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, environmental degradation, and plaguing poverty has made ICDPs crucial in achieving national goals of tripling the area of natural heritage conserved and poverty reduction through socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable development. In order to understand how such sustainable development can be achieved, it is essential to spend time enhancing one’s understanding of the local mentality and worldview. On …

The Role Of Tibetan Buddhism And Culture In Sustainable Development (A Case Study Of Yubeng Village), Frazer Lanier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

During a lecture by Li Bo, of CBIK (the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge a Chinese NGO), I was given a glimpse into the role that culture plays within poverty alleviation and environmental conservation. While poverty alleviation aims to develop community economies, this goal is usually seen as being in conflict with environmental conservation because it requires the use of environmental resources. This is a common misperception. According to Gou Jing’s article Gateway between Culture and Nature， “man’s touch bestows nature with culture” (Guo Jing 12). The interaction between nature and humans is the foundation for culture and the …

Transmission Of Environmental And Conservation Knowledge In Andohahela National Park, Mika S. Nagasaki

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Andohahela National Park : Legends and Laws

The legendary forests of Andohahela National Park (N.P.) have long been respected as a source of inspiration and life for the Anosy region in the extreme southeast of Madagascar. Hundreds of years ago, according to various oral traditions, Prince Mana offered himself as a sacrifice in order to quench the drought that brought war and famine to his people, the Tahela (a clan of the Anosy tribe). Zanahary, the Malagasy creator, responded by unleashing the rains and springs in the mountains, which made the land fertile again, and stopped the wars. In gratitude, …