Here we describe a 14-year collaboration in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, between an Indigenous NGO, Indigenous scientists and international researchers. New Ireland is a marine province in the Western Pacific region where most residents depend on fishing, marine gleaning and small-scale gardening for their livelihoods. Ailan Awareness is a locally founded and managed NGO that focuses on the strengthening of Indigenous sovereignty regarding biological, cultural and spiritual diversity as well as fostering Indigenous epistemology practices and strengthening biocultural diversity. In partnership with anthropological researchers, Ailan Awareness has designed an approach to marine conservation informed by the growing field of decolonial research practices. By working to empower coastal communities to make decisions about their marine and cultural resources using a mix of Indigenous, anthropological and scientific methods and giving primacy to strengthening Indigenous modes of knowledge production and the role of community Elders, Ailan Awareness addresses a major gap in the efforts of the national government and international NGOs: giving the people most directly affected by declining biodiversity and loss of tradition the support and tools required to design and carry out the strengthening of both biological diversity and traditional social practices. In this paper we describe the methodology used by Ailan Awareness and the history of collaboration that resulted in these methods.

Language diversity is under threat, with between a third to a half of all languages considered endangered, and predicted rates of loss equivalent to one language per month for the rest of the century. Rather than reviewing the extensive body of linguistic research on endangered languages, this review focuses specifically on the interdisciplinary transfer of methods developed in conservation biology, macroecology and macroevolution to the study of language endangerment and loss. While the causes of language endangerment and loss are different to those for species, studying patterns of diversity of species and languages involves similar analytical challenges, associated with testing hypotheses and identifying causal relationships. Solutions developed in biology can be adapted to illuminate patterns in language endangerment, such as statistical methods that explicitly model phylogenetic nonindependence, spatial autocorrelation and covariation between variables, which may otherwise derail the search for meaningful predictors of language endangerment. However, other tools from conservation biology may be much less use in understanding or predicting language endangerment, such as metrics based on International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria, population viability analysis or niche modelling. This review highlights both the similarities and the differences in approaches to understanding the concurrent crises in loss of both linguistic diversity and biodiversity.

Biological and cultural diversity are inextricably linked and rapidly eroding worldwide. As a response, many conservation efforts foster synergies between cultural and biological diversity agendas through biocultural approaches. However, such approaches do not always address biocultural conflicts, where certain cultural practices can lead to biodiversity loss and, in turn, threaten the continuance of such practices. In this study, we examined a biocultural conflict in the Dimi ceremony, the most important rite of passage of the Daasanach agro-pastoralists of north Kenya, in which skins from threatened carnivore species are used extensively as traditional ornaments. We quantified the current use of skins in Dimi as well as changes in the cultural ceremony that exacerbate its impacts on wildlife. We collected field-based data on the context of the use of skins through structured interviews, focus-group discussions, participant observation and counts of skins in two Dimi ceremonies. We counted a total of 121 skins of four carnivore species being used in a single ceremony. We also found that Dimi has become environmentally unsustainable, threatening distant cheetah Acinonyx jubatus and leopard Panthera pardus populations and local species with spotted skins (African civet Civettictis civetta, common genet Genetta genetta and serval Leptailurus serval). The young Daasanach are deeply concerned about the lack of availability of skins in their area, as well as the prohibitive prices, and they are calling for alternatives to the use of skins in Dimi. Overall, our study shows that acknowledging biocultural conflicts and opening space for dialogue with local communities are essential for the maintenance of both biological and cultural diversity.

With rapid urbanization worldwide, most people now live in cities, but the effects of urbanization on knowledge about the natural environment is not well studied. Due to the importance of Cymbidium to Chinese traditional culture, we tested how urbanization influences the distribution of orchid knowledge across various knowledge domains at risk of loss due to declining orchid populations. Participants in the Cymbidium trade were interviewed in three distinct urbanization-level jurisdictions in Sichuan, China: Puge (low urbanization), Huili (moderate urbanization) and Chengdu (high urbanization). Using photographic cue-cards of nine Cymbidium taxa, we assessed aggregate and specific knowledge held by 91 orchid collectors/traders across the urbanization gradient. Contrary to expectations, we found that urbanization and orchid knowledge were positively related, but this varied by knowledge type, with moderate urbanization showing significantly higher knowledge in two domains. Our findings suggest that a generalizable understanding of how urbanization affects knowledge must account for differences in knowledge types and geographic/cultural scales, with implications for biocultural diversity conservation in an increasingly urban world.

Globally, some species and habitats receive protection through local belief systems (e.g. indigenous religions) and informal institutions (e.g. social norms and taboos). Where such systems represent the only form of protection for threatened species or environments, they may be critical to the survival of those taxa and sites. We evaluated the effectiveness of long-standing social taboos protecting the Endangered Sclater's monkey Cercopithecus sclateri and forest groves in a community complex in Nigeria. Across its range (southern Nigeria), Sclater's monkey is effectively protected only through informal institutions. At our study site, we conducted a census of the monkey population; measured the area of sacred groves; and compared our findings with estimates from 2010 and 2005, respectively. We observed a 36% increase in the monkey population (from 249 to 339 individuals) in a core survey area. No groves that we assessed in 2005 had been fully cleared. Although we observed a decline in tree cover for several sacred forests, most groves used regularly by monkeys had changed little. The social taboos related to monkeys and sacred groves remain largely intact; however, other factors threaten the monkey population and remaining forests in this community complex, including the removal of tree patches to accommodate the construction of large residential buildings and the demand for cropland, as well as increased dumping of waste in forested sites. This study highlights the conservation importance and limitations of local cultural protection, as well as the challenges presented when such protection conflicts with community-perceived development needs.

The orang-utan Pongo spp. is protected by national and international legislation, yet populations continue to decline. Many reports implicate local people in the poaching and illegal trade in orang-utans, yet community participation has been promoted as an alternative conservation strategy. To explore how community-based orang-utan conservation could be developed, we conducted a study to understand informal institutions, particularly local people's perceptions, traditional beliefs, taboos, norms and knowledge, related to orang-utan conservation within and around the wetlands of Danau Sentarum. The majority of Dayak communities interviewed practised traditional taboos, which supported the protection of orang-utans and their habitat. Statistical analysis using generalized linear modelling indicated that more orang-utan nests were found in areas with both good habitat condition and strong informal institutions. Despite applying traditional systems that are similar to conservation, local people have negative perceptions about the term ‘conservation’. We describe the underlying causes of these negative perceptions and highlight their implications for conservation programmes and policies. We conclude that conservation of orang-utans and other species should not focus on single species but on maintaining social and natural capital, cultural diversity and ecological functions at various institutional levels and across geographical scales.

Japan's rice terrace landscapes are not only used for food production but also appreciated as a place of high biocultural value. This paper pursues the question as to how far esthetic and spiritual values influence the motivation to participate in collective agricultural actions aiming at the conservation of traditional land use systems, the respective cultural (= traditional rural) landscapes and their biocultural diversity. Our results show that in the Ownership System of Ōyamasenmaida (Chiba Prefecture, Japan) landscape beauty is the main motivator for the mainly urban volunteers (the ‘tenants’) to participate in activities of the local Preservation Association, as well as for visitors who merely come to enjoy the scenery of the rice terraces. The active tenants, however, differ from the ‘passive’ visitors in their ecological interest and emotional attachment to the area. Interestingly, there is also a difference regarding the belief in nature spirits. A higher percentage of people who can imagine that such spirits are always present have been found among the tenants than among the visitors. Even more significant in this respect was the difference between female tenants and female visitors. To what extent spirituality is the cause for or an effect of involvement in nature conservation activities cannot be concluded from this survey. Future studies should therefore take a closer look at the connection between spirituality/religiosity and engagement in nature conservation activities. In Western countries (mainly in Central Europe or North America), nature conservation works on a more ‘scientific’ level, mobilizing engagement through scientific evidence on, for example, losses of species or biodiversity. Addressing the motivations of the volunteers on an emotional, esthetic or social level could be a promising way forward.

Study of the ecological and economic effects of invasive species has paralleled their progressively pervasive influence worldwide, yet their cultural impacts remain largely unexamined and therefore unrecognized. Unlike biological systems, where the ecological consequences of biological invasions are primarily negative, from an ethnoscientific standpoint, invasive species' impacts on cultural systems span a range of effects. Biological invasions affect cultural groups in myriad, often unpredictable and at times contradictory ways. This review groups case studies into a conceptual matrix suggesting three categorically different cultural impacts of invasive species. Culturally impoverishing invasive species precipitate the loss or replacement of culturally important native species and their associated cultural practices. Culturally enriching invasive species augment cultural traditions, through their inclusion in lexicons, narratives, foods, pharmacopoeias and other tangible and intangible ends. Culturally facilitating invasive species can provide continuity and reformulation of traditional ethnobiological practices. An understanding of the processes by which invasive biota become culturally enriching, facilitating, or impoverishing can contribute to articulating interdisciplinary programmes aimed at simultaneously conserving biological and cultural diversity.