Indigenous Knowledge
Facing the Problem
Indigenous knowledge is the crystallization of each community’s practical experience throughout its history of formation and development. Through the process of creating, selecting, and crystallizing this knowledge, each community has built systems to adapt to their natural and cultural environment.
The uniqueness of indigenous knowledge in each community and region is created by differences in natural conditions, soil, and culture. 
Indigenous knowledge plays an important role in the sustainable development of communities, conservation and efficient use of resources, food security, and adaptation to climate change. This intangible asset is particularly valuable in Vietnam, home to 54 ethnic groups.
NATIVE SAVVY IS GRADUALLY FADING AWAY AND DISAPPEARING
Vietnam has up to 54 ethnic groups, each ethnic group and each community among those ethnic groups are preserving their traditional cultural features and a rich indigenous knowledge system in various aspects.
- Recognition, experience in exploitation, use and management of natural elements
- Knowledge related to the process of making a living
- Knowledge related to material life
- Knowledge in social management
- Knowledge in spiritual life
Unfortunately, the survival space of these communities, especially those living near forests, is being disrupted by various interventions, such as changes in regulations related to resource management, farming, and production methods, as well as the application of advances in science and technology. Despite these interventions, the application of indigenous knowledge in development has not been given sufficient attention.
As a result, many interventions have been implemented without a full assessment of their social impact, leading to development without inheritance and causing the gradual disappearance of indigenous knowledge within these communities.
During India’s Green Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, high levels of productivity solved food shortages, but also led to a series of environmental consequences such as loss of biodiversity, indigenous genetic resources, deforestation, desertification, and the breakdown of local community structures.
The forgetting and disappearance of indigenous knowledge threatens the goal of sustainable development and breaks the fabric of the community.
HOW TO SOLVE
These Problems?
Applying indigenous knowledge to promote sustainable development
Although the concept of Indigenous Knowledge began to take shape in 1979, it was not until 1998, with the strong influence of the World Bank through the program “Indigenous knowledge for development” in African countries, that the indispensable role of indigenous knowledge for sustainable development was affirmed with the statement: “Indigenous knowledge is an integral part of the culture and history of a local community. We need to learn from local communities so that we can accelerate development.”
The success of the program laid the foundation for the interest and application of indigenous knowledge in development programs around the world. This interest is even more evident in the reports of governments in countries such as Uganda, South Africa, and the Philippines. The role of indigenous knowledge is also widely recognized through the reports of international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the World (FAO).
In Vietnam, although there is no official concept of Indigenous Knowledge in legal documents, the application of indigenous knowledge in recent years has begun to receive attention and is being applied through programs for cultural development, trade, resource management, traditional land allocation, and forest allocation to communities for traditional management.
Facing the Problem
Development based on the preservation of indigenous knowledge has always been a priority of CEGORN
Preserving indigenous knowledge has always been a priority for CEGORN, which works directly with local communities to conduct research on this subject. This allows CEGORN to integrate indigenous knowledge conservation activities into development programs in communities.
Additionally, CEGORN draws on its practical experience to contribute recommendations to policies and laws at local and central levels, creating the best conditions for preserving and developing indigenous knowledge associated with sustainable development.
CEGORN focuses on increasing people’s access to traditional land and forest resources. To this end, CEGORN and its network allocated land and community forests based on traditions and customs in the early days of its establishment.
In Kon Tum, Lao Cai, and Quang Binh, over 3000 hectares of land and forests have been allocated to the community for protection through the project “Strengthening Access to and Use of Land and Forests of Ethnic Minorities: Sustainable Forest Management and Sustainability through Strengthening Traditional Institutions for Community Forest and Land Management”.
Community-based forest management
CEGORN implements effective forest management activities based on customs and traditions, along with land and forest allocation activities. This is accomplished through the model of community forestry enterprise for the Ma Lieng people in Quang Binh, developing non-timber products of indigenous trees for ethnic minority communities in Hue and Quang Nam.
CEGORN also undertakes conservation activities for indigenous resources, including flora and fauna.
- Programs to plant and restore forests with native trees in Quang Binh and Quang Tri provinces have been established with the goal of more than 100 hectares per year.
- The organization works to conserve local endemic and wildlife, such as the white-necked langur and Siki gibbon in Quang Binh, through direct protection or research support.
- To protect biodiversity, nearly 30 voluntary community groups have been established and supported based on traditional experiences and new technical guidelines in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Tuyen Hoa District’s Special-use Forest.
In addition, CEGORN promotes sustainable development activities and the inheritance of indigenous knowledge sources in the communities through in-depth studies on customs and conservation of natural resources. They also provide guidance on documentation according to custom.
