Perceptions and local knowledge of the state, the changes and the protection measures of alpine biodiversity in the context of pastoral alpine farming in Switzerland: how do lay and scientific discourses about biodiversity conservation differ?

Abstract

The hotspot of biodiversity in alpine areas, shaped by centuries of pastoral agricultural practices is currently threatened by multiple developments in agriculture and economy. Pastoral alpine farmers characterised by a multifunctional role being both producers and landscape managers possess local ecological knowledge that is created through working experience and is exerting an effect on pastoral and conservation practices. To understand the relationships between management and ecosystems with a focus on biodiversity conservation of this lay knowledge an original plan of this study included both a qualitative and quantitative assessment of local- and traditional ecological knowledge of alpine farmers in a delimited alpine area in Canton Fribourg and parts of Canton Bern in Switzerland. Aspects of participatory methodology were included in the design of the data collection and analysis, to make the study relevant to local contexts and to achieve valid results that represent a close fit to reality. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with alpine farmers and external “experts” were conducted as a preliminary step to gain data used for an explorative analysis and the creation of a quantitative survey. Due to problems with the survey distribution it was decided to concentrate on the qualitative data and conduct a discourse analysis of information given and narratives used on the state and changes of the environment, climate, socio-political context and economy with identification and comparison of personal attitudes, opinions, ideas and proposals for biodiversity conservation. These results were then discussed and findings were compared with existing literature. The main findings include that currently trust is eroding in alpine farmers’ communities in political and scientific entities together with a lack of social awareness about pastoral alpine agriculture and conservation practices. Existing conservation schemes were critically assessed and put into perspective of perceived effectivity with benefits and drawbacks formulated. Local ecological knowledge was found out to show great potential which is currently not harnessed enough by conservation schemes.