Español: IUFRO World Series Vol. 21: Gestión de bosques sostenibles y Reducción de la Pobreza: Roles de los conocimientos tradicionales relacionados con los bosques

Traditional knowledge and practices have sustained the livelihoods, cultures and the forest and agricultural resources of local and indigenous communities throughout Asia for centuries. Despite their importance and contributions to sustainable rural livelihoods,traditional forest-related knowledge and practices are fast disappearing in most Asian countries, (and indeed worldwide) for a number of reasons. Government policies and regulations within and outside of the forest sector restricting access and traditional use of forest resources, have led to a general erosion of traditional culture and of traditional land and forest management knowledge and practices. The expansion of the increasingly globalized market economies is undermining demand for traditional products and increasing the need for cash incomes in previously self-sufficient rural areas. Greater exposure to mass media and other cultural influences from metropolitan centers have led to an erosion of traditional culture and beliefs, and declining interest in traditional wisdom, knowledge, and lifestyles among younger generations. The negative implications of this loss of TFRK on livelihoods, cultural and biological diversity, and the capacity of forested landscapes to provide forest goods and services remain poorly understood, largely unappreciated, and undervalued by policy-makers and the general public in most countries.