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Ecological changes and local knowledge in a giant honey bee (Apis dorsata F.) hunting community in Palawan, Philippines

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Abstract

One of the traditional livelihood practices of indigenous Tagbanuas in Palawan, Philippines is wild honey hunting and gathering from the giant honey bee (Apis dorsata F.). In order to analyze the linkages of the social and ecological systems involved in this indigenous practice, we conducted spatial, quantitative, and qualitative analyses on field data gathered through mapping of global positioning system coordinates, community surveys, and key informant interviews. We found that only 24% of the 251 local community members surveyed could correctly identify the giant honey bee. Inferential statistics showed that a lower level of formal education strongly correlates with correct identification of the giant honey bee. Spatial analysis revealed that mean NDVI of sampled nesting tree areas has dropped from 0.61 in the year 1988 to 0.41 in 2015. However, those who correctly identified the giant honey bee lived in areas with high vegetation cover. Decreasing vegetation cover limits the presence of wild honey bees and this may also be limiting direct experience of the community with wild honey bees. However, with causality yet to be established, we recommend conducting further studies to concretely model feedbacks between ecological changes and local knowledge.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Lenita Nangcod, Loreta Alsa, the Tagbanua community in Sagpangan, NATRIPAL, NTFP-EP Philippines, Andrea Alberti, Guido Lüchters, and Robert Feller for their assistance in data gathering and analysis. The authors also thank Graciela Rusch and two anonymous reviewers for their comments. This work was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Foundation fiat panis, and The Eva Crane Trust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management, Center for Development Research (Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung) Bonn, University of Bonn, Genscherallee 3, 53113, Bonn, Germany

    Denise Margaret S. Matias & Christian Borgemeister

  2. Programme on Environmental Governance and Transformation to Sustainability, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Tulpenfeld 6, 53113, Bonn, Germany

    Denise Margaret S. Matias

  3. Center for Methods, Institute of Ecology, Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University, Scharnhorststr. 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany

    Henrik von Wehrden

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  1. Denise Margaret S. Matias
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Correspondence to Denise Margaret S. Matias.

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Matias, D.M.S., Borgemeister, C. & von Wehrden, H. Ecological changes and local knowledge in a giant honey bee (Apis dorsata F.) hunting community in Palawan, Philippines. Ambio 47, 924–934 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1038-7

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