Celebrating Cultural Heritage and Traditional Knowledge

World Wetlands Day 2026.

Interest in protecting mangrove ecosystems is increasing. Yet, ecological, social and economic settings are all unique. This is why proper conservation and restoration efforts need to be paired with an understanding of the local context.

This year’s World Wetlands Day theme is “Wetlands and Traditional Knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage." This theme spotlights the link between community stewardship, wetland conservation and indigenous knowledge.  

People have called mangrove areas home for millennia, making use of their many goods

and direct benefits, and often holding a key place for them in local cultures and traditions. Only communities most proximate can provide a holistic view of the mangrove ecosystem. Their traditional practices and generational knowledge is a vital asset for maintaining mangroves.

Local villager Jeffrey Laia in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. © Mark Godfrey

To showcase these perspectives, we have put together over twenty real-world case studies that harness the power of local ecological knowledge in mangrove restoration and conservation.

This year’s World Wetlands Day also happens to mark the two year publication anniversary of “Including Local Ecological Knowledge in Mangrove Restoration & Conservation.” We encourage you to explore this GMA guide, especially researchers and practitioners, so that you have a deeper understanding for how to properly include local ecological knowledge in your projects.

Local Ecological Knowledge Defined

1. Local Ecological Knowledge

   • “The knowledge, practices, and beliefs gained through extensive personal observation of, and interaction with local ecosystems, and shared among local resource users”.

2. Traditional Ecological Knowledge

   • “A cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment”.

3. Indigenous Knowledge

   • “Knowledge and know-how accumulated across generations, which guide [Indigenous] human societies in their innumerable interactions with their surrounding environment”.

4. Academic Ecological Knowledge (AEK)

   • “Driven by theoretical models and hypothesis testing and generated using the scientific method”.

   • “Generated through a strict and universally accepted set of rules informed by academic disciplines (e.g., ecology, biology, or forestry) and by the scientific method”.

     
     

Explore the complete Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) Guide here.