Traditional knowledge (TK) refers to the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world. Developed from experience gained over the centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment, TK is largely transmitted orally from generation to generation. It tends to be collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, customary laws, local language, and agricultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal breeds.

TK includes the know-how, skills, innovations, practices and learning that form part of traditional knowledge systems, and knowledge that is embodied in the traditional lifestyle of a community or people, or is contained in codified knowledge systems passed between generations. It is not limited to any specific technical field, and may include agricultural, environmental and medicinal knowledge, and knowledge associated with genetic resources.

TK encompasses a number of other concepts, including for example:

• indigenous knowledge (which usually refers to knowledge held by communities and peoples that are indigenous);
• traditional ecological knowledge (TK relating to ecological systems acquired by communities living in close contact with their environment);
• intangible cutural heritage (defined by The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage as the practices, representations, expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills, that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage);
• traditional medicine (defined by the World Health Organization as health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being);
• traditional cultural expressions (or "expressions of folklore", understood by the World Intellectual Property Organization as productions consisting of characteristic elements of the traditional artistic heritage developed and maintained by a community in the country or by individuals reflecting the traditional artistic expectations of such a community. These may include folk tales, instrumental music, artistic forms of rituals, and drawings, designs, sculptures, pottery etc.

Traditional knowledge is often of a practical nature, particularly in such fields as fisheries, health, horticulture, and forestry. This knowledge is valuable not only to approximately two-thirds of the world’s population who depend on it in their daily lives, but also to modern industry, agriculture and natural resource managers.

Many widely used products, such as plant-based medicines and cosmetics, are derived from traditional knowledge. TK can also make a significant contribution to sustainable development. Most indigenous and local communities are situated in areas where the vast majority of the world's plant genetic resources are found and many of them have cultivated and used biological diversity in a sustainable way for thousands of years. However, the contribution of indigenous and local communities to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity goes far beyond their role as natural resource managers: their skills and techniques provide valuable information to the global community and a useful model for biodiversity policies. As on-site communities with extensive knowledge of local environments, indigenous and local communities are most directly involved with conservation and sustainable use.

The international community has recognized the close and traditional dependence of many indigenous and local communities on biological resources, notably in the preamble to the Convention on Biological Diversity. There is also a broad recognition of the contribution that traditional knowledge can make to both the conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity.

Awareness of the value of TK, particularly its potential contribution to sustainable development and poverty alleviation, is growing at a time when such knowledge is being threatened as never before. The causes of this loss are complex and profound. Nevertheless, research into TK and related capacity building efforts will make an important contribution to addressing these problems.

More information about the role of TK in various sectors is available through the Programmes section of this site.

It is estimated that there are more than 370 million indigenous people spread across 70 countries worldwide. Practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Spread across the world from the Arctic to the South Pacific, they are the descendants - according to a common definition - of those who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. The new arrivals later became dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means.

Among the indigenous peoples are those of the Americas (for example, the Lakota in the USA, the Mayas in Guatemala or the Aymaras in Bolivia), the Inuit and Aleutians of the circumpolar region, the Saami of northern Europe, the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia and the Maori of New Zealand. These and most other indigenous peoples have retained distinct characteristics which are clearly different from those of other segments of the national populations.

Considering the diversity of indigenous peoples, an official definition of “indigenous” has not been adopted by any UN-system body. Instead the system has developed a modern understanding of this term based on the following:

• Self-identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as their member;
• Historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies;
• Strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources;
• Distinct social, economic or political systems;
• Distinct language, culture and beliefs;
• Form non-dominant groups of society;
• Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities.

-Adapted from the UNPFII Factsheet.

Please see the section on Traditional Knowledge & the UN for details regarding the role and importance of TK in international policy.

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