Indian Knowledge System (IKS) A Pathway to Environmental sustainability

Abstract

Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) play a crucial role in promoting environmental sustainability through their deep-rooted understanding of ecosystems, biodiversity, and resource management. It offers valuable insights into sustainable living by promoting harmony between humans and nature.

With its foundation in centuries of observation and experience, IKS provides long-term answers to environmental problems. These systems place a strong emphasis on long-term resource stewardship, ecological balance, and comprehensive environmental perspectives. These are demonstrated in activities like crop diversification, agroforestry, and the preservation of holy places. Indigenous approaches to resource management, like rotational farming and regulated burning, support soil health and biodiversity conservation. With indigenous cultures and creative approaches to dealing with shifting environmental conditions, IKS also offers helpful techniques for climate change adaptation. Integrating IKS into contemporary environmental governance frameworks can improve sustainability by opposing extractive paradigms and encouraging group decision-making that puts ecosystem health first. Without clinching environmental sustainability, the universal notion of sustainable development goals can't be achieved in today's world. Thus, IKS offers essential insights for sustainable environmental practices that are both culturally relevant and ecologically sound.