Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

River conservation by an Indigenous community

Populations of river fish are threatened by pressures on land and water resources. Networks of reserves managed by Indigenous people at community level offer a way to conserve fish diversity and enhance yields of nearby fisheries.
  1. Edward H. Allison

    1. Edward H. Allison is at WorldFish, Penang 11960, Malaysia.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Violet Cho

    1. Violet Cho is in the School of Culture, History and Languages, College of Asia and the Pacific, the Australian National University, Canberra 2600, ACT, Australia.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Rivers are a major source of renewable water, and provide food, jobs and a sense of place and cultural identity for people living in the vicinity. For many Indigenous peoples, rivers are central to how they understand themselves, their origins and their relationships to the rest of nature. As a citizen of the Penobscot Nation in Maine put it1, “The river is us: the river is in our veins.” Writing in Nature, Koning et al.2 report ecological surveys that demonstrate how local Indigenous people in the Salween River basin on the border between Thailand and Myanmar have successfully managed the river for conservation purposes and to protect livelihoods.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 588, 589-590 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03316-y

References

  1. Fox, C. A. et al. Sustain. Sci. 12, 521–533 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Koning, A. A., Perales, K. M., Fluet-Chouinard, E. & McIntyre, P. B. Nature 588, 631–635 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Dudgeon, D. Freshwater Biodiversity (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2020).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Abell, R., Allan, J. D. & Lehner, B. Biol. Conserv. 134, 48–63 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Reyes-García, V. & Benyei, P. Nature Sustain. 2, 657–658 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kukutu, T. & Taylor, J. (eds) Indigenous Data Sovereignty: Toward an Agenda (Australian Natl Univ. Press, 2016).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Trakansuphakon, P. Pga k’nyau Knowledge on Rotational Farming in Northern Thailand (IKAP-Network, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Reid, A. J. et al. Fish Fish. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12516 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. O’Donnell, E. L. & Talbot-Jones, J. Ecol. Society 23, 7 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links