The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Conservation of Biodiversity

There is a growing evidence that human activities are major drivers of extinction events. In Uganda, oil and gas extraction and refinery activities with potential negative impact are conducted in biodiversity hotspot. Based on the case study conducted in Buseruka Sub-county Hoima District, this book looks at how indigenous knowledge and practices can be integrated into oil and gas activities to conserve biodiversity. The overall objective was to generate information for enhancing development agencies' effort to integrate indigenous wisdom into the world economy on an equitable basis. Findings demonstrate that taboos have fundamentally preserved fish and plant diversity at Kaiso landing site and Nyanyama Island. Though dwindling, local water collection and storage utensils and traditional agro-ecological practices have hitherto kept biodiversity intact. The likelihood and effectiveness for local wisdom to save biodiversity were both ranked higher than the capacity for oil and gas companies. To impede acceleration of the current rate of biodiversity loss in the oil rich regions, government should subtly lead spatial and temporal scale biodiversity monitoring and rehabilitation.