In Vanuatu

I'm just back from doing a bit of work in one of my favourite places: Vanuatu. After spending time there, I am always in awe of the innovative ways in which small remote villages manage their marine resources based primarily on traditional ecological knowledge. This knowledge about how the marine environment functions has been passed along through generations of living closely with, and depending on, the resources of the ocean. And it has resulted in management measures, such as periodic fisheries closures (tabu areas) that are intimately tied to cultural and spiritual practices. These types of village-based systems provide the villagers, as custodians of their land and sea, control over activities on their fishing grounds, and they can quickly adjust their strategies based on environmental changes. Traditional knowledge and practices eroded over the colonial period, but have recently been revitalized in villages around Vanuatu.

The collage below, titled "what lies beneath" is made up of a screenprint and a woodcut, depicting boys playing around a coral reef. The learning about the environment starts in childhood, through play and instruction from elders.

The photos below are from a cultural festival in the small village of Aneityum, where the school actively teaches traditional knowledge to children.  The kids learn everything from how to build traditional sailing canoes and cyclone houses, prepare famine foods that keep for a long time, to how to respectfully relate to older villagers. This allows them to be resilient, drawing on both the wisdom of ancient ways and contemporary innovations.