Abstract:

most indigenous and local communities are situated in areas where the vast majority of the world’s plant genetic resources are found. Communities living in biological hotspots have cultivated and used biological diversity in a sustainable way for thousands of years. These communities therefore know better than anyone else how to preserve local flora and fauna. Preserving linguistic diversity is also extremely important for preserving biological diversity. When languages become extinct, associated traditional ecological knowledge in local communities is often lost as well. We cannot afford to let languages and cultures, and the ecological wisdom they have accumulated over centuries, disappear.