Hearing a different drummer: A new paradigm for the ?keepers of the forest?

It is becoming increasingly apparent that virtually all aspects of diversity are in steep decline. Indigenous knowledge systems, biodiversity and cultural diversity (three interacting, interdependent systems) are all threatened with extinction because of: • rapid population growth • growth of international markets • westernised educational systems and the mass media • environmental degradation • exogenous/imposed development processes • rapid modernisation • cultural homogenisation • language loss • globalisation • extreme environmentalism • and eco-imperialism This book explores the diversity crisis from the perspective of forestry. It introduces an emerging vision, known as the endogenous realisation of aspirations (ERA), that attempts to enhance well-being and biocultural diversity by building on local or endogenous ambitions and dreams. Based on research in the Kham region of southwestern China, the author offers some practical methods for allowing development professionals to develop an understanding of and empathy for the local cultures within which they work, as well as to identify and understand local forest concepts and values. He also offers some policy recommendations for incorporating this approach more widely into development practice.