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Abstract:
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"Natural resource scientists and managers increasingly recognize traditional ecological
knowledge (TEK) for its potential contribution to contemporary natural resource management (NRM) and,
through this, to more resilient social-ecological systems. In practice, however, inadequate cross-cultural
means to organize and communicate TEK can limit its effective inclusion in management decisions.
Indigenous seasonal knowledge involving temporal knowledge of biota, landscapes, weather, seasonal
cycles, and their links with culture and land uses is one type of TEK relevant to this issue. We reviewed
the literature on Australian Aboriginal seasonal knowledge to characterize contemporary and potential
applications to NRM. This knowledge was often documented through cross-cultural collaboration in the
form of ecological calendars. Our analysis revealed a variety of basic and applied environmental information
in Aboriginal seasonal descriptions and calendars that can contribute directly to NRM. Documented
applications have been limited to date, but include fire management, inclusion as general material in NRM
plans, and interpretative information about environments. Emerging applications include water
management and climate change monitoring. Importantly, seasonal knowledge can also contribute
indirectly to NRM outcomes by providing an organizing framework for the recovery, retention, and crosscultural
communication of TEK and linking to its broader cultural and cosmological contexts. We conclude
that by facilitating the combination of experiential with experimental knowledge and fostering
complementarity of different knowledge systems, Aboriginal seasonal knowledge can increasingly
contribute to more resilient social-ecological outcomes in NRM. Nevertheless, the seasonal framework
should augment, rather than override, other approaches to cross-cultural NRM such as those with spatial
and/or social-ecological emphasis."
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