Recognition and Operationalization of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Mammal Monitoring in Tropical Rainforests in Mexico

Globally, the main strategies for biodiversity conservation are protected areas. In Mexico, these include participatory efforts called Voluntary Conservation Areas. Mammal communities provide valuable diagnostics on functional integrity and camera traps are widely used technique for their monitoring. When monitoring is implemented in indigenous territories, local communities often participate because they harbored traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). However, the contribution of TEK to mammal monitoring with camera traps (MMCT) is poorly documented. This study documented the recognition of TEK into MMCT by Mexican researchers and analyzed the operationalization of TEK for member of community monitoring brigades (CMB) in the Chinantec region, Oaxaca, southern Mexico. Surveys were conducted with 31 Mexican researchers who carried out MMCT and official information from the MMCT program was consulted, as well as the results of a regional workshop with members of nine CMB. Also, 12 interviews were conducted with members of four CBM, and participant observation was carried out. Our results exhibited that TEK was a fundamental component of MMCT in the studied region, because local people know their territory and mammals. Most researchers acknowledged that TEK helps them determine the location of camera traps. Local monitors, provided detailed descriptions of how they operationalized their TEK within the MMCT. TEK plus technical training could be crucial for mammal detection in the region; therefore, we suggest it integrating in the national MMCT program. Making the participatory MMCT protocols more inclusive and promoting their operation as a community learning setting, which could be useful for Mexico and beyond.