Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Politics of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge in Vietnam

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Studies of Indigenous environmental knowledge (IEK) provide valuable information helpful for resource management, yet there remain gaps for many countries. This paper reviews the literature on IEK in Vietnam across key areas, including ethnobiological studies, customary law, applied agricultural research, and management of natural resources for a range of Indigenous communities. Despite increasing attention by researchers, and a growing body of evidence on IEK, there remain considerable gaps in content in Vietnam compared with global IEK literature, and the paper suggests a framework for assessing these differences. Overall, the review suggests that there is little integration of IEK into policy, scientific assessments, or management in Vietnam due to numerous barriers to IEK in both research and policy, ranging from methodological limitations to political sensitivities. The article concludes with suggestions to improve engagement with and application of IEK in the future in Vietnam and elsewhere.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Source: 2019 Population and Housing Census data

Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Such systems have been conceptualized under different names, including Traditional Knowledge (TK), Local Environmental Knowledge (LEK), Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), or Indigenous Knowledge (IK) about the environment.

  2. Title searches were run in Web of Science on July 3, 2018 on the following terms: “indigenous ecological OR environmental knowledge” (28 hits); “traditional ecological OR environmental knowledge” and “local ecological OR environmental knowledge” (352 hits); and “indigenous knowledge" AND environment* or ecology* (155 hits).

  3. A number of terms related to IEK are used in Vietnamese, including “local knowledge” (kiến thức địa phương or tri thức địa phương), “traditional knowledge” (kiến thức cổ truyền, tri thức cổ truyền, or tri thức truyền thống), “indigenous knowledge” (tri thức bản địa or kiến thức bản địa), and “traditional ecological knowledge” (kiến thức truyền thống sinh thái). All were searched in the review.

  4. The term “Indigenous peoples” (người bản địa, or người bản xứ) is not commonly used. The position of the government is that Vietnam should be called a “multiethnic and multicultural country” (nước đa dân tộc, đa văn hóa) where “ethnic minorities” is the preferred term for non-ethnically Vietnamese peoples (McElwee, 2004).

  5. Thuốc nam relies on endemic Vietnamese plants, in contrast to traditional Chinese medicine, but it is unclear the degree to which thuốc nam’s pharmacopeia has drawn on IEK from Indigenous communities.

  6. The one exception is the protected landscape of Lắk Lake in Đăk Lăk province which is of particular spiritual significance for Êdê and Mnông communities (1 out of 45 total landscapes protected.).

  7. For example, Article 8(j) notes that IEK should be considered an important component of national conservation planning. Vietnam’s submissions to the CBD (6 reports in total) can be found at https://www.cbd.int/countries/?country=vn

References

  • Agrawal, A. (1995). Dismantling the divide between indigenous and scientific knowledge. Development and Change, 26, 413–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Århem, N. (2009). In the sacred forest: Landscape, livelihood and spirit beliefs among the Katu of Vietnam. University of Gothenburg Department of Social Anthropology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1251–1262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boissière, M., Sheil, D., Basuki, I., Wan, M., & Le, H. (2009). Can engaging local ‘people’s interests reduce forest degradation in Central Vietnam? Biodiversity and Conservation, 18(10), 2743–2757.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boulbet, J. (1975). Paysans de la Forêt. Paris: EFEO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bùi, X. T. (1999). Tác Dụng Của Luật Tục Đối Với Việc Quản Lý Xã Hội Ở Các Dân Tộc Thái, Hmông Tây Bắc Việt Nam. Hanoi: NXB Văn Hóa Dân Tộc.

  • Cámara-Leret, R., & Dennehy, Z. (2019). Information gaps in indigenous and local knowledge for science-policy assessments. Nature Sustainability, 2(8), 736–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cano, L., & Telleria, J. (2013). Local ecological knowledge as a tool for assessing the status of threatened vertebrates: A case study in Vietnam. Oryx, 47(2), 177–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, J. (2018). A Kri-Mol (Vietic) bestiary: Prolegomena to the study of ethnozoology in the Northern Annamites. Kyoto Working Papers on Area Studies, 133, 1–171.

  • Coombes, B., Johnson, J. T., & Howitt, R. (2014). Indigenous geographies III: Methodological innovation and the unsettling of participatory research. Progress in Human Geography, 38(6), 845–854.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Condominas, G. (1977). We have eaten the forest: The story of a Montagnard village in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. New York: Hill & Wang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Condominas, G. (2009). Anthropological reflections on swidden change in Southeast Asia. Human Ecology, 37, 265–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cullen-Unsworth, L., Hill, R., Butler, J., & Wallace, M. (2012). A research process for integrating indigenous and scientific knowledge in cultural landscapes: Principles and determinants of success in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Australia. The Geographical Journal, 178, 351–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Đàm, L. N. A., Bùi, V. H., & Sumimura, Y. (2016). The indigenous knowledge of the Hani group: The utilisation and conservation of natural forest resources at Y Ty Commune, Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. Health Environment, 2, 13–32.

  • Đặng, T. K. (2016). Status and change of local rice varieties: A case study from the Po E Commune, Kon Plong District, Central Highlands of Vietnam. In M. Karki, et al. (Eds.), Knowing our lands and resources indigenous and local knowledge and practices related to biodiversity and ecosystem services in Asia, (pp. 103–117). Bonn: IPBES.

  • Đặng, T. N., & Dương, Q. P. (2013). Tri thức bản địa của dân tộc Dao khu vực miền núi phía bắc trong việc lựa chọn đất đai, địa hình canh tác và hệ thống cây trồng. Tạp Chí Khoa Học Đại Học Sư Phạm Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh, 44, 175–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dào, K. N. T. B., Lê, P., Douglas, I., Nguyễn, V. D., Mcmorrow, J., Lindley, S., et al. (2008). Local knowledge and economic realities affecting soil erosion in the Rach Rat catchment, Vietnam. Geographical Research, 46(1), 17–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David-Chavez, D., & Gavin, M. (2018). A global assessment of indigenous community engagement in climate research. Environmental Research Letters, 13, 123005.

  • Đinh, T. S., Kimihiko, H., Kazuo, O., & O. (2012). Livelihoods and local ecological knowledge in Cat Tien biosphere Reserve, Vietnam: Opportunities and challenges for biodiversity conservation. In N. Ishwaran (Ed.), The Biosphere (pp. 261–284). InTech Open.

    Google Scholar 

  • Đỗ, Q. H. (2016). Đạo tin lành ở Đông Bắc Á: Những kịch bản giải quyết xung đột với văn hóa bản địa. Tạp Chí Khoa Học Xa Họi Viẹt Nam, 5(66), 60–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Đỗ, T. H., Krott, M., Juerges, N., & Böcher, M. (2018). Red lists in conservation science-policy interfaces: A case study from Vietnam. Biological Conservation, 226, 101–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Đỗ, X. Đ. (2014). Kinh nghiệm sử dụng tài nguyên gắn với bảo vệ môi trường của cộng đồng người Thái tại ven hồ thủy điện Sơn La. Tạp Chí Khoa Học ĐHQGHN, Các Khoa Học Trái Đất và Môi Trường, 29(3), 1–9.

  • Dournes, J. (1954). Le monde végétal du montagnard est-il animé ? Observations en pays Sre (Minorité ethnique montagnarde au Vietnam). Journal d’Agriculture Tropicale et de Botanique Appliquée, 1(5–6), 214–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dove, M. R. (2006). Indigenous people and environmental politics. Annual Reviews in Anthropology, 35(1), 191–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellen, R., & Harris, H. (2000). Introduction. In R. Ellen, P. Parkes, & A. Bicker (Eds.), Indigenous environmental knowledge and its transformations: Critical anthropological perspectives (pp. 1–18). London: Harcourt.

  • Ens, E. J., Pert, P., Clarke, P., Budden, M., Clubb, L., Doran, B., et al. (2015). Indigenous biocultural knowledge in ecosystem science and management: Review and insight from Australia. Biological Conservation, 181, 133–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G. (1985). Vietnamese communist anthropology. Canberra Anthropology, 8(1–2), 116–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Luz, A., Cabeza, M., Pyhälä, A., & Reyes-García, V. (2015). Rapid ecosystem change challenges the adaptive capacity of local environmental knowledge. Global Environmental Change, 31, 272–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ford, J., Cameron, L., Rubis, J., Maillet, M., Nakashima, D., Willox, A., & Pearce, T. (2016). Including indigenous knowledge and experience in IPCC assessment reports. Nature Climate Change, 6(4), 349–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsyth, T. J., & Walker, A. (2008). Forest Guardians, Forest Destroyers: The Politics of Environmental Knowledge in Northern Thailand. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavin, M., McCarter, J., Mead, A., Berkes, F., Stepp, J. R., Peterson, D., & Tang, R. (2015). Defining biocultural approaches to conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30, 140–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Baggethun, E., & Reyes-García, V. (2013). Reinterpreting change in traditional ecological knowledge. Human Ecology, 14, 643–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero-Gatica, M., Mujica, M., Barceló, M., Vio-Garay, M., Gelcich, S., & Armesto, J. (2020). Traditional and local knowledge in Chile: Review of experiences and insights for management and sustainability. Sustainability, 12(5), 1767.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hà, Đ. T. (Ed.). (2001). On-farm management of agricultural biodiversity in Vietnam: Proceedings of a symposium, 6–12 December 2001, Hanoi, Vietnam. Hanoi: Biodiversity International.

  • Hickey, G. (1982). Free in the forest: Ethnohistory of the Vietnamese Central Highlands, 1954–1976. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidayati, S., Franco, M., & Bussmann, R. (2015). Ready for phase 5 - current status of ethnobiology in Southeast Asia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 11, 17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, R., Adem, Ç., Alangui, W. V., Molnár, Z., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Bridgewater, P., et al. (2020). Working with indigenous, local and scientific knowledge in assessments of nature and ‘nature’s linkages with people. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 43, 8–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hồ, N. S., Đồng, T. L. C., & Kingsbury, A. (2019). Indigenous knowledge and climate change adaptation of ethnic minorities in the mountainous regions of Vietnam: A case study of the Yao people in Bac Kan province. Agricultural Systems, 176, 102683.

  • Hồ, N. S., & Kingsbury, A. (2019). Community adaptation and climate change in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam: A case study of ethnic minority people in Bac Kan province. Asian Geographer, 37(1), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoàng, M. Q. (2006). Đặc điểm văn hóa, kiến thức bản địa và chiến lược sinh kế của đồng bào các dân tộc thiểu số tại Đak Rong - Quảng Trị. Tạp Chí Nông Nghiệp Và Phát Triển Nông Thôn, 12, 4–8.

  • Hoàng, V. A. (2003). Link between spirit forest and biodiversity conservation case study at Son La Province. Hanoi: Research Center for Forest Ecology and Environment Forest Science Institute of Vietnam.

  • Hoàng, V. S., Baas, P., & Keßler, P. (2008). Traditional medicinal plants in Ben En National Park, Vietnam. Blumea - Biodiversity, Evolution and Biogeography of Plants, 53(3), 569–601.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoàng, X. T., & Lê, T. C. (1998). Kiến Thức Bản Địa Của Đồng Bào Vùng Cao Trong Nông Nghiệp Và Quản Lý Tài Nguyên Thiên Nhiên. Hanoi: NXB Nông nghiệp.

  • Hunn, E. (2007). Ethnobiology in four phases. Journal of Ethnobiology, 27(1), 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huỳnh, V. K., & Trần, T. A. (2005). Kiến thức bản địa về tài nguyên cây thuốc ở Vườn Quốc Gia Bạch Mã. Tạp Chí Nông Nghiệp Và Phát Triển Nông Thôn, 1(6), 55–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • IMHEN & UNDP. (2015). Special report on extreme events for Vietnam. Hanoi: Institute for Metereology, Hydrology and Climate Change and United Nations Development Programme.

  • Kawa, N. C. (2016). Amazonia in the Anthropocene: People, soils, plants, forests. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kiều, T. T. H., Nguyễn, T. N., Nguyễn, T. H. T., Vũ, T. H. A., Nguyễn, D. H. G., & Nguyễn, Q. T. (2020). Indigenous knowledge in climate change adaptation: Case studies of ethnic minorities in the Northern Mountain Region of Vietnam. Journal of Vietnamese Environment, 12, 155–161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khổng, D. (1977). Some social features of the Triêng minority group in Quảng Nam Province. Tạp Chí Dân Tộc Học, 4.

  • Kohn, E. (2015). Anthropology of ontologies. Annual Reviews in Anthropology, 44(1), 311–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kyeyune, V., & Turner, S. (2016). Yielding to high yields? Critiquing food security definitions and policy implications for ethnic minority livelihoods in upland Vietnam. Geoforum, 71, 33–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lê, V. K., Ngô, D. T., & Nguyễn, Q. L. (2007). Phong Tục Tập Quán Cổ Truyền Một Số Dân Tộc Thiểu Số Ở Nam Tây Nguyên. Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Văn hóa dân tộc.

  • Leger, D. (1982). L’engoulevent oiseau-forgeron et oiseau-riziculteur dans le centre-Vietnam. Journal d’Agriculture Traditionnelle et de Botanique Appliquée, 29, 81–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, T. (2007). The will to improve. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lưu, H. (2005). Săn bất chim muông và tín ngưỡng liên quan của người Cơ-Tu. Tạp Chí Dân Tộc Học, 3(135), 8–14.

  • Lưu, H. (2007). A contribution to Katu ethnography. Hanoi: Thế Giới.

  • McElwee, P. (2002). Lost worlds and local people: Protected areas development in Vietnam. In D. Chatty & M. Colchester (Eds.), Conservation and Indigenous Mobile Peoples: Displacement, Forced Settlement, and Sustainable Development (pp. 312–329). Berghahn Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McElwee, P. (2004). Becoming socialist or becoming Kinh? Government policies for ethnic minorities in the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. In C. Duncan (Ed.), Civilizing the margins: Southeast Asian government policies for the development of minorities (pp. 182–213). Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McElwee, P. (2016). Forests are gold: Trees, people and environmental rule in Vietnam. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McElwee, P. (2020). The use and misuse of IEK in conservation in Vietnam. In S. Bhagwat, & T. Thornton (Eds.), Handbook of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge (pp. 326–342). London and New York: Routledge.

  • McElwee, P. et al. (2010). The social dimensions of adaptation to climate change in Vietnam. Development and Climate Change Discussion Paper No. 17. Washington DC: World Bank.

  • McElwee, P., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Thorpe, M., Whyte, K. P., Middleton, E., et al. (2018). Indigenous ecologies. In D. Gibson (Ed.), Oxford bibliography of ecology. New York: Oxford University Press.

  • McElwee, P., Fernández-Llamazares, A., Aumeeruddy-Thomas, Y., Babai, D., Bates, P., Galvin, K., et al. (2020). Integrating indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) into large-scale ecological assessments: The experience of the IPBES Global Assessment. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57, 1666–1676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michaud, J. (2004). Missionary ethnographers in Upper-Tonkin: The early years, 1895–1920. Asian Ethnicity, 5(2), 179–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mistry, J., Bilbao, B., & Berardi, A. (2016). Community owned solutions for fire management in tropical ecosystems: Case studies from indigenous communities of South America. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1696), 20150174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadasdy, P. (1999). The politics of TEK: Power and the ‘integration’ of knowledge. Arctic Anthropology, 36(1/2), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nadasdy, P. (2005). Transcending the debate over the ecologically noble Indian: Indigenous peoples and environmentalism. Ethnohistory, 52(2), 291–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, P., Nguyễn, V. T., Roberton, S., & Bell, D. (2008). Pangolins in peril: Using local ‘hunters’ knowledge to conserve elusive species in Vietnam. Endangered Species Research, 6, 41–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngô, Đ. T. (1998). Luật Tực Mnông. Hanoi: NXB Chính Trị Quốc Gia.

  • Ngô, Đ. T. (2001). Customary law and rural development in Vietnam today. Tai Culture: International Review on Tai Cultural Studies, 6, 81–100.

  • Ngô, Đ. T. (2004). Thế giới quan bản địa. Tap Chí Van Hóa Dân Gian, 4, 3–15.

  • Ngô, Đ. T., Chu, T. S., & Nguyễn, H. T. (1996). Luật Tực Ê Đê. Hanoi: NXB Chinh Tri Quoc Gia.

  • Ngô, T. D., & Webb, E. (2008). Combining local ecological knowledge and quantitative forest surveys to select indicator species for forest condition monitoring in central Viet Nam. Ecological Indicators, 8(5), 767–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngô, V. L. (2014). Nghiên cứu tri thức địa phương các tộc người thiểu số ở Tây Nguyên và Nam Bộ một số vấn đề đặt ra. Dân Tộc & Thời Đại, 173, 10–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngô, V. L., & Nguyễn, C. T. (2016). Tri thức địa phương của người Cơ Tu trong sử dụng tài nguyên động vật rừng. Tạp Chí Phát Triển Khoa Học Và Công Nghệ, 19, 14–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngô, V. L., & Võ, T. T. (2015). Bảo tồn và phát huy các giá trị của tri thức địa phương ở các tộc người thiểu số trong bối cảnh hiện nay. Tạp Chí Đại Học Thủ Dầu Một, 4(23), 42–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, C. T. (2017). Tri thức địa phương của người Cơ Tu trong khai thác và sử dụng thực vật rừng. Tạp Chí Khoa Hoc Đai Hoc Thu Dâu Mọt, 2(33), 81–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, Đ. T., Verdoodt, A., Dusar, M., Trần, T. V., & Van Ranst, E. (2008). Evaluating ethnopedological knowledge systems for classifying soil quality: A case study in Bo hamlet with Muong people of Northern Vietnam. Geographical Research, 46, 27–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, H. A. (2016). Tri thức địa phương về khai thác và sử dụng tài nguyên nước của người Thái ỡ huyện Tương Dương, tỉnh Nghệ An. Tạp Chí Văn Hoá Dân Gian, 5(167), 16–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, H. M. (2016). Tri Thức Bản Địa Trong Việc Canh Tác Nương Rẫy Của Người Sila Huyện Mường Tè, Tỉnh Lai Châu: Trường Hợp Xã Can Hồ. Hanoi: NXB Hội Nhà Văn.

  • Nguyễn, H. T., & Trần, S. H. (2007). Kiến thức bản địa trong canh tác trên đất dốc của người Dân Xã Thượng Hà - Bảo Yên - Lào Cai. Tạp Chí Khoa Học Kỹ Thuật Nông Nghiệp, 5(2), 57–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, N. Q., Wildemeersch, D., & Masschelein, J. (2013). Community forests as heterotopia. The case of the Mu Community forest – Ngoc Son – Ngo Luong Nature Reserve, Vietnam. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 70, 877–892.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, N.T. et al. (2013). Tri Thức Địa Phương Của Người Dân Sống Trong Vườn Quốc Gia Và Khu Bảo Tồn Thiên Nhiên. Hanoi: NXB Khoa học Xã hội.

  • Nguyễn, T. H., & Ross, A. (2017). Barriers and opportunities for the involvement of indigenous knowledge in water resources management in the Gam river basin in North-East Vietnam. Water Alternatives, 10(1), 134–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyên, T. H., & Saizen, I. (2019). Forest ecosystem services and local communities: Towards a possible solution to reduce forest dependence in Bach Ma National Park, Vietnam. Human Ecology, 47(3), 465–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyên, T. H. V. (2009). Kiến thức bản địa của người Thái trong canh tác nương rẫy ở vùng ven thành phố Sơn La. Tạp chí Khoa học ĐHQGHN: Khoa học Tự nhiên và Công nghệ, 25, 132–137.

  • Nguyễn, T. N. H., Nguyễn, T. T. T., Lưu, N. T., & Đỗ, H. P. (2005). Kiến thức bản địa và đa dạng nguồn gen lúa của người Tày tại huyện Đà Bắc tỉnh Hoà Bình. Tạp Chí Dân Tộc Học, 2, 42–56.

  • Nguyễn, T. T. (2003). Local knowledge on land use: A case study of Muong people in Northern Vietnam. In J. Xu, & S. Mikesell (Eds.), Landscapes of diversity: Indigenous knowledge, sustainable livelihoods and resource governance in Montane mainland Southeast Asia (pp. 473–478). Kunming: Yunnan Science and Technology Press.

  • Nguyễn, T. T. H. (2015a). Tri thức địa phương trong sử dụng và bảo vệ ruộng nước của người Sán Diu ở huyện Sơn Dương, tỉnh Tuyên Quang. Tạp Chí Dân Tộc Học, 1&2, 70–81.

  • Nguyễn, T. T. H. (2015b) Tri thức địa phương trong sử dụng và bảo vệ tài nguyên rừng của người Sán Diu ở Tuyên Quang. Nghiên Cứu Đông Nam Á, 8(185), 75–82.

  • Nguyễn, V. C. (2008). From swidden cultivation to fixed farming and settlement: Effects of sedentarization policies among the Kmhmu in Vietnam. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 3(3), 44–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, V. K., & Hồ, T. T. (2019). Forest and forestry ecocultural system in Central Highlands, Vietnam. VNU Journal of Science: Policy and Management Studies, 35(2), 39–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, V. M. (2000). Agricultural adaptation of the H’mong in Vietnam. Vietnam Social Science, 6(80), 75–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyễn, V. T. (2013). Tri thức địa phương của người Mảng ở Việt Nam. Tap Chi Khoa Hoc Xa Họi Viẹt Nam, 6(67), 93–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla, E., & Kofinas, G. (2014). ‘Letting the leaders pass’: barriers to using traditional ecological knowledge in comanagement as the basis of formal hunting regulations. Ecology and Society, 19(2), art7–16.

  • Pelley, P. (1998). ‘Barbarians’ and younger brothers’: The remaking of race in postcolonial Vietnam. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 29, 374–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phạm, Q. H., & Hoàng, N. Y. (2010). Nghiên Cứu Tri Thức Bản Địa Trong Bảo Vệ Rừng Của Người Mông Tại Khu BTTN Hang Kia - Pà Cò, Tỉnh Hòa Bình. Hanoi: PanNature.

  • Phạm, T. H., et al. (2016). Kết quả điều tra nguồn tài nguyên cây thuốc của tỉnh Hà Giang. Tạp Chí Khoa Học ĐHQGHN Khoa Học Y Dược, 32, 73–81.

  • Phan, N. T. (2011). Recognising customary law in Vietnam: Legal pluralism and human rights. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Faculty of Law, University of Wollongong.

  • Prober, S., O’Connor, M., & Walsh, F. (2011). Australian Aboriginal peoples’ seasonal knowledge: A potential basis for shared understanding in environmental management. Ecology and Society, 16(2), 12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rambo, A. T., & Jamieson, N. (2003). Upland areas, ethnic minorities, and development. In A. T. Rambo, & N. Jamieson (Eds.), Postwar Vietnam: Dynamics of a transforming society (pp. 139–170). New York: Rowman.

  • Rambo, A. T., & Trần, ĐV. (2001). Social organization and the management of natural resources: A case study of Tat hamlet, a Da Bac Tay ethnic minority settlement in Vietnam’s Northwestern Mountains. South East Asian Studies, 39(3), 299–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rerkasem, K., Yimyam, N., & Rerkasem, B. (2009). Land use transformation in the mountainous mainland Southeast Asia region and the role of indigenous knowledge and skills in forest management. Forest Ecology and Management, 257(10), 2035–2043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, R. (2004). Spatial organization of environmental knowledge: Conservation conflicts in the inhabited forest of Northern Thailand. Ecology and Society, 9(3), 5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau, J. F., & Turner, S. (2018). Not at all costs: Frontier modernization schemes and ethnic minority livelihood debates in the Sino-Vietnamese borderlands. Verge: Studies in Global Asias, 4(1), 133–159.

  • Salemink, O. (2000). Sedentarization and selective preservation among the Montagnards in the Vietnamese Central Highlands. In J. Michaud (Ed.), Turbulent Times and Enduring Peoples: Mountain Minorities in the South-East Asian Massif (pp. 125–150). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salemink, O. (2003). The Ethnography of Vietnam’s Central Highlanders: A Contextual History. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sikor, T., & Hoàng, C. (2016). REDD+ on the rocks? Conflict over forest and politics of justice in Vietnam. Human Ecology, 44(2), 217–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sikor, T., & Trường, D. M. (2000). Sticky Rice, Collective Fields: Community-based Development among the Black Thai. Hanoi: Agricultural Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sowerwine, J. (2004). Effects of economic liberalization on Dao women’s traditional knowledge, ecology, and trade of medicinal plants in northern Vietnam. In T. Carlson & L. Maffi (Eds.), Ethnobotany and Conservation of Biocultural Diversity (pp. 235–262). New York: New York Botanical Garden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoon, J. (2014). Quantitative, qualitative, and collaborative methods: Approaching indigenous ecological knowledge heterogeneity. Ecology and Society, 19(3), art33.

  • Tạ, H. D. (2015). Phục hồi sinh kế tại các cộng đồng tái định cư thủy điện Sơn La và vai trò của tri thức địa phương tộc người. Tạp Chí Dân Tộc Học, 1–2, 115–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, P. (2014). The Khmer lands of Vietnam: Environment, cosmology, and sovereignty. Honolulu: Australian Association for Asian Studies and University of Hawaii Press.

  • Thai, T. M., Neef, A., & Hoffmann, V. (2010). Agricultural knowledge transfer and innovation processes in Vietnam’s Northwestern uplands. Japanese Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 48(4), 425–455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thayer, C. A. (2009). Vietnam and the challenge of political civil society. Contemp SE Asia, 31, 1–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton, T., & Bhagwat, S. (Eds.). (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge. Oxon, UK: Routledge.

  • Toledo, V. (2001). Indigenous peoples and biodiversity. In S. A. Levin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of biodiversity (pp. 451–463). San Diego: Academic Press.

  • Trần, C. U., Limnirankul, B., & Chaovanapoonphol, Y. (2015). Factors impact on farmers’ adaptation to drought in maize production in highland area of Central Vietnam. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 5, 75–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trần, H. S. (2011). Tri thức bản địa của người Hà Nhì ở Việt Nam với vấn đề bảo vệ rừng. In Kỷ Yếu Hội Thảo Quốc Tế Việt Nam Học Lần Thứ Ba (pp. 232–241). Hanoi: Vietnam National University.

  • Trần, N. K. P. (2016). Luật tục và tri thức bản địa của người Tà Ôi đối với tài nguyên rừng. Tạp Chí Nghiên Cứu Và Phát Triển, 4(130), 82–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trần, N. T., & Sikor, T. (2006). From legal acts to actual powers: Devolution and property rights in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Forest Policy and Economics, 8, 397–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trần, V. Đ, & Đàm, X. V. (2014). Agricultural production model adapt to climate change based on indigenous knowledge of ethnic minorities in Bac Kan Province, Vietnam. ARPN Journal of Earth Sciences, 3, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trần, V. O., Do, Q., Lê, D. B., Jones, B., Wunder, J., & Russell-Smith, J. (2001). A survey of medicinal plants in BaVi National Park, Vietnam: Methodology and implications for conservation and sustainable use. Biological Conservation, 97(3), 295–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N., Ignace, M., & Ignace, R. (2000). Traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1275–1287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, S. (2010). Challenges and dilemmas: Fieldwork with upland minorities in socialist Vietnam, Laos and southwest China. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 51, 121–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Usher, P. (2000). Traditional ecological knowledge in environmental assessment and management. Arctic, 53(2), 183–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velasquez Runk, J. (2014). Enriching indigenous knowledge scholarship via collaborative methodologies: Beyond the high tide’s few hours. Ecology and Society, 19(4), art37.

  • Việt, T. (2019). Re-conceptulizing the relationships between sacred forests and ethnic minorities: Selected case studies in Vietnam. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

  • Vương, D. Q. (2004). The Hmong and forest management in Northern Vietnam’s mountainous areas. In N. Tapp, J. Michaud, C. Culas, & G. Lee (Eds.), Hmong/Miao in Asia (pp. 321–31). Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.

  • Wilson, N., & Inkster, J. (2018). Respecting water: Indigenous water governance, ontologies, and the politics of kinship on the ground. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 1(4), 516–538.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whyte, K. P. (2018). What do indigenous knowledges do for indigenous peoples? In M. K. Nelson, & D. Shilling (Eds.), Traditional ecological knowledge: Learning from indigenous practices for environmental sustainability (pp. 57–81). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Wolverton, S. (2013). Ethnobiology 5: Interdisciplinarity in an era of rapid environmental change. Ethnobiology Letters, 4, 21–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, E., & McTaggart, P. M. (2019). Co-developing indigenous seasonal calendars to support 'Healthy Country, Healthy People’ outcomes. Global Health Promotion, 26, 26–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, J., Ma, E., Tashi, D., Fu, Y., Lu, Z., & Melick, D. (2005). Integrating sacred knowledge for conservation: Cultures and landscapes in Southwest China. Ecology and Society, 10(2), 7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my long-time research sponsor in Vietnam, the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies of Vietnam National University, and in particular the late Dr. Võ Quý, Dr. Trương Quang Học, Dr. Hoàng Văn Thắng, and Võ Thanh Giang, for their support of this research. I also thank Hy Văn Lương for the invitation to a conference on anthropological approaches in Vietnam in 2007 at which a much earlier and different paper was first presented, and the comments on that paper from Christian Culas, Hoang Cầm, Charles Keyes, Richard Lee, Nguyễn Văn Chính, Oscar Salemink, and Vương Xuân Tình are gratefully acknowledged.

Funding

Funding for the author’s research within Vietnam on these issues has been provided by a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant from the Global Security and Sustainability Program, the World Bank, and a National Science Foundation grant #1061862.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Ecology, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 55 Dudley Road New, Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA

    Pamela McElwee

Authors
  1. Pamela McElwee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pamela McElwee.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 31 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

McElwee, P. The Politics of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge in Vietnam. Hum Ecol 50, 241–258 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00303-3

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-021-00303-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation