Environmental Multiplicity in the Bahamas: Situating Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Conservation Ethics in Cultural Landscapes

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research conducted in the Exumas Cays, Bahamas, this thesis investigates how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and conservation ethics are situated in place and integrated into cultural landscapes. This is illustrated using satellite imagery and ethnographic data to describe the TEK associated with kitchen gardens, plant-collecting areas, fishing grounds, farm fields and pastures within the traditional use areas of one Exumian settlement known as The Hermitage. By situating TEK in cultural landscapes, this thesis provides a more holistic representation of the interconnectedness between community, knowledge, practice, belief, place, and landscape. This thesis also includes discussions on the theoretical importance of linking TEK with place and landscape; the formation and role of conservation ethics in preserving places or resources in a local environment; and a description of an emerging theory in cultural ecology called environmental multiplicity, which argues for the resiliency of traditional social-ecological systems as a result of creating multiple subsistence strategies and webs of interdependent social relationships to guard against social and natural perturbations.