Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation: An Approach to Epistemic Fairness and New Citizenship in Mexico

Increasing concern on indigenous and traditional knowledge (TK) protection attended at international fora and at legislative scope during the past decades, has been closely associated with scientific development and technological innovation that enhance possibilities of its industrial appropriation, and enhanced its economic benefits and enhanced interests of international corporations. On the other hand, it’s also been demonstrated that biological diversity is tied to thousands of peoples’ and communities’ management through history, specially in megadiverse countries like Mexico. Indigenous and peasant communities are not only “keepers” or “caretakers” of biodiversity, but they also make important contributions to generate and increase it. Thus, the theoretical approach implies a double reflection: One, scientific transference models, where it becomes necessary to create horizontal processes recognizing the validity of all knowledge construction forms beyond the hegemonic scientific paradigm, called as “epistemic fairness processes”. Two, is about the need of an effective citizenship, meaning the indigenous peoples can truly exert their minority and collective rights of difference, which is not only related to State’s reform but to the creation of new coexistence cultures, or “intercultural” conditions. Both reflections are closely related to conceptual debate within environmental justice and environmental education fields, as long as they become alternative culture proposals to face environmental crisis.