Benefitting country(ies): Viet Nam

Overview:

The Black Ha Nhi people have developed and passed on place-based knowledge and a body of customary laws to cope with living conditions and survival experiences as well as to protect their natural environment. Ecological indigenous knowledge of the Black Ha Nhi includes behavioural practices in taking care of trees, preventing fire and soil erosion and protecting the topographical setting as well as practices of worshipping forest and water spirits associated with rituals and festivals, such as oath-taking ceremonies for protection of sacred forests, watersheds, and water sources. Undertaken by the Lao Cai Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the project aims at safeguarding and promoting this indigenous knowledge through its documentation during fieldwork, as well as the establishment of a good practice model for its safeguarding in which local knowledge and customary laws for protection of forest, watershed and water sources are applied within the Lao Chai village with an active involvement of its inhabitants. This model would also be applied to two other villages in Y Ty commune (Sin Chai and Ta Gi Thang) in so transmitting indigenous knowledge to young generations and fostering the essential contribution of traditional knowledge to environmental protection and social cohesion within the Black Ha Nhi community.

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