Resource depletion and environmental degradation are serious problems faced by China and the world. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) can increase the capacity of social-ecological systems to deal with crises, fostering biodiversity and human well-being in a harmonious way. Lacking information about TEK, government often uses one-size fits all nature resource management policies; these usually lead to failure and ecological degradation. This is especially true in ecologically vulnerable areas. Guizhou is located upstream of major rivers in China and also is a typical Karst ecologically vulnerable region.

This talk will present the Dong minority as an example, introducing how they use TEK in paddy cultivation and forestry preservation to improve the local ecological environment and increase agricultural and forestry production. We also explore the basic institutions for TEK forming generation to generation, the impacts of modern agriculture technology, inappropriate property rights and policies on local natural resources utility and the social-ecological system.