Issues in Science and Technology featured a piece from IAC Natural Resources Director Emily Luscombe, discussing regenerative agriculture and how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has been used since time immemorial to promote ecosystems' health through place-based innovation. Read an excerpt of the article below.
Often, TEK is dismissed despite thousands of years of responsive adaptation. Many methods used by tribal producers yield equivalent or higher outcomes than the practices stipulated for reimbursement by the US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, yet they are not always eligible for the same payments because they are based on methods instead of equivalent outcomes.
TEK is a living adaptive science that uses traditional knowledge fused with current conditions and new technologies to create innovative Indigenous land stewardship. Not only do Native systems of regenerative agriculture assist in carbon sequestration, but they also focus on whole ecosystem function and interaction. This creates a more long-term sustainable regenerative system. Native systems recognize that soil health cannot be siloed from water quality, habitat preservation, or any other element because of the impact of its interconnectedness across all parts of the ecosystem.
Native systems recognize that soil health cannot be siloed from water quality, habitat preservation, or any other element because of the impact of its interconnectedness across all parts of the ecosystem.
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“Combining Tradition and Technology.” Issues in Science and Technology 40, no. 4 (Summer 2024).