A Comparative Analysis of Ethnoscapes and Forest Management

This report explores the concept of ethnoscapes, which refers to the distribution of ethnic groups in relation to their cultural beliefs and practices concerning forests and nature. It examines the Kosmos (beliefs), Corpus (knowledge), and Praxis (practices) spheres, illustrating how different ethnic groups, such as the First Nation of Shoal Lake in Canada and the Yi people in China, interact with their forest environments. The report highlights how these groups utilize forest resources for livelihood, including timber, fuelwood, and medicinal plants, while also acknowledging the impacts of deforestation and the importance of ethnoforestry in conservation and management. A comparative analysis is presented, contrasting the cultural and ecological perspectives of the two ethnic groups, and emphasizing the dynamic and complex relationship between humans and forests. The study concludes by underscoring the need to consider cultural values in forest management to promote biodiversity conservation.

RUNNING HEAD: ETHNOSCAPES AND ITS IMPACTS 1
Ethnoscape and its impacts
Student’s Name:
Institution Affiliation:

ETHNOSCAPES AND ITS IMPACTS 2
Ethnoscapes refers to the distribution of ethnic groups in relation to the different cultural
beliefs in the world. The Kosmos sphere gives the world’s view about issues like myths, rituals,
cosmovision which is the world’s representation in symbols and deities hence termed (belief).
The Corpus sphere is mostly seen as the “knowledge” of vegetation, climate, cultivated and wild
plants, hydrology, animals soil taxonomies, geology, ecological successions, and processes as
well as interactions (biotic and abiotic). The Praxis sphere encompasses the activities that
support life in a given ecological habitat. This includes forest and agricultural productions,
hunting and gathering, fishing, gardening, bee-keeping, agroforestry aside management of pests.
This strategies of livelihood make the praxis a "practice" (Valler, Phelps, Miao, Benneworth &
Eckardt, 2019).
In relation to forests and nature, the Kosmos gives an account of beliefs concerning
forests whereas the Corpus discusses the forest taxonomy and the existing relation with other
land uses. On the other side, the Praxis showcases the management of the forest including how
trees are cut down, generation of timber and wood as well as extraction of syrups from maples.
One of the indigenous group from Canada is the Iskateqizaagegan, First Nation of Shoal Lake in
Ontario. It serves as home for 585 people including Cree, the Dene( Athapascan) that are made
of the Gwich’in, the Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) who speak Algonquian family language with the
Cree. Livelihood strategies are facilitated by lakes, rivers, and wetlands in the boreal forest.
The wetlands are a source of geese and ducks whereas rivers and lakes provide fish for
consumption. The indigenous group also practices small-scale agriculture to supplement their
food needs. The forest provides habitat for big games like snowshoe hares hence hunting and
gathering is practiced by the group. The tree species in the forest provided wood used as

ETHNOSCAPES AND ITS IMPACTS 3
firewood and timber for constructions and making wood resources like woven baskets and mats.
Also, sugar was obtained from sap and maple of some tree species (Roman & Eldridge, 2017).
In comparison with China's ethnic group, different ideas vary based on their culture and
daily activities. This ethnic group believes in the existence of holy trees; the tree of the Hunt
God, the tree of Dragon and the God tree. The ancestors of the Yi community were believed to
pray to the Hunt God before hunting and gathering hence no individual was granted access to
those trees. The Yi group occupied the mountain regions across Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou,
Southwest China where water from the hilltops and the roots was directed to holy pond of water
believed to supply clean water for visitors and the villagers (Li, Guo, He, Zhai, Chen, Ou, &
Cheng, 2017).
Just like the Canadian group, the six million estimated individuals cut down trees as a
source of timber and fuelwood during cooking. They also depended on wild vegetables and some
species acted as sources of herbal medicine. Recently, the community practices the cultivation of
wheat, potatoes, corn, tea, radish and buckwheat making them a self-sufficient group. In
addition, the group introduced bee-keeping for production of honey and kept animals like goats,
chicken, and pigs (He & Sikor, 2017).
Ethnoforestry involves conservation, management, creation and utilization of resources in
the forests. This concept connected the two groups from the way they made use of the resources
to sustain their lives. Based on learning experiences about ethnoscapes the activities of these
communities diverge from that of conservation of biodiversity. Deforestation in the occupied
forests poses a threat to the environment leading to effects like climate change. However, these
activities relate to the Kosmos, Praxis and corpus concept of belief, knowledge, and practice.

ETHNOSCAPES AND ITS IMPACTS 4
References
Valler, D., Phelps, N., Miao, J. T., Benneworth, P., & Eckardt, F. (2019). Science Spaces as
‘Ethnoscapes’: Identity, Perception and the Production of Locality. Urban Science, 3(1),
17.
Li, J., Guo, F., He, W., Zhai, D., Chen, X., Ou, J. & Cheng, B. (2017). Allele frequencies of
15 autosomal STR loci in the Yi ethnic minority from Yunnan Province in the far
southwest of China. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 26, e23-e24.
He, J., & Sikor, T. (2017). Looking beyond tenure in China's collective forest tenure reform:
insights from Yunnan province, southwest China. International Forestry Review, 19(1),
29-41.
Roman, L. G., & Eldridge, S. (2017). ‘O Canada or ‘Freedom Road’?: Shoal Lake 40's Mirror
on Global Northern Disability Studies and Public Pedagogies. In Disability and
Masculinities(pp. 3-43). Palgrave Macmillan, London.