Socioecological Linkages for Sustainability: The Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Hmong People of Dong Van Karst Plateau, Ha Giang Province, Vietnam

This study focuses on the system of traditional ecological knowledge (hereafter called TEK) of the Hmong people living in Dong Van Karst Plateau, Ha Giang, Vietnam. Dong Van Karst Plateau is well-known for the extreme harshness of its living conditions characterized by the severe climate and the serious shortage of arable lands and potable water. Notably, the Hmong have managed to overcome the difficulties of living on the Karst Plateau area by generating a system of TEK to adapt to the rocky environment. In this study, I employ the TEK theory of Berkes (2008), an approach to TEK of many analysis levels. The research suggests that TEK is not simply a body of knowledge on rock resource usage and management, but also a knowledge that evolves, integrates, and crystalizes in the social mechanisms of Hmong society. There is a "socioecological linkage" arising from the reciprocal interactions between TEK and such social mechanisms as knowledge transmission, cultural internalization, and Hmong cosmology. It is the socioecological linkage that contributes to maintaining sustainability in the way that the Hmong utilize and manage rock resources. It is important to note that in 2010, Dong Van Karst Plateau was designated by UNESCO as an official member of the Global Geoparks Network, a designation that brought about environmental stress to the Hmong community with its restrictions on all exploitation and utilization activity of rock resources for the protection of the natural landscape. However, thanks to the socioecological linkage, Hmong people could adapt and overcome the stress in a sustainable manner. Finally, the research considers TEK from a "cultural resource management" perspective and proposes methods to preserve and promote TEK in the contemporary context.