The benefits of
indigenous engagement:
Ethics and Science.
Local knowledge and an awareness of local context can be integral to conducting a variety of research. However, one thing that’s less often considered is the impact of the diversity of the research team itself.
Conservation research by Ward-Fear et al (2019) into the impact of cane toads on yellow-spotted monitor lizards in Australia has unintentionally produced evidence of the scientific benefits of collaborating with local indigenous people.
Large cane toads are spreading through tropical Australia but are fatally toxic if eaten by yellow-spotted monitor lizards. Ward-Fear et al (2016) trained lizards with smaller, non-lethal cane toads and then compared the survival rates of trained and non-trained lizards in the wild over an 18 month period. They found that trained lizards had a greater survival rate than non-trained lizards, suggesting that the training helped the lizards to avoid eating the larger toxic cane toads.
Yet their study also revealed the importance of researcher diversity. In monitoring the population of lizards over 18 months, the research team included western scientists (professional, nonindigenous ecologists) and indigenous rangers (Australian-Aboriginal Traditional Owners of the region).
The indigenous rangers saw lizards from a greater distance, in more dense vegetation, under poorer light levels, and more frequently when the lizard was stationary. Additionally, when assessing the behavioural traits of the lizards, those that were spotted by the indigenous rangers were found to be more shy. What’s more, the ranger caught lizards appeared to benefit more from the training against the toxic cane toads.
All this highlights the importance of cultural diversity within research teams and in particular shows that indigenous collaboration can be utterly crucial for conservation efforts.
Original research:
Training of predatory lizards reduces their vulnerability to invasive toxic prey: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0863
Collaboration with indigenous peoples can alter the outcomes of conservation research: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12643