ABSTRACT Many areas of biodiversity rich regions in South Asia are governed by local communities through norms and practices enforced by traditional community institutions. The role of traditional belief systems in wildlife conservation in such regions continues to be debated in contemporary conservation discourse. We examined the traditional beliefs and taboos of different tribal communities in the Eastern Himalaya Eco-region and their contribution to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation through semi-structured interviews (n = 299) conducted with indigenous communities. Among the 35 threatened mammals of IUCN Red List, 28 received some form of protection from taboos and traditional beliefs. We also explore the relevance of these informal institutions in contemporary society, in the contexts of ongoing socioeconomic changes and global demand for wildlife products. Informal, culturally mediated, self-regulation of communities reliant on natural resources for sustenance provides an opportunity to address the complexities of reconciling human needs with conservation goals.

中文翻译：

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传统信仰体系在保护印度东喜马拉雅生态区生物多样性中的作用

摘要南亚生物多样性丰富地区的许多地区都由当地社区通过传统社区机构强制执行的规范和做法进行管理。在当代保护话语中，传统信仰体系在这些地区的野生动物保护中的作用继续受到争论。我们通过与土著社区进行的半结构化访谈（n = 299），研究了东喜马拉雅生态区不同部落社区的传统信仰和禁忌及其对自然资源管理和生物多样性保护的贡献。在 IUCN 红色名录的 35 种受威胁哺乳动物中，28 种受到某种形式的保护，不受禁忌和传统信仰的影响。我们还探讨了这些非正式机构在当代社会中的相关性，在持续的社会经济变化和全球对野生动物产品需求的背景下。对依赖自然资源维持生计的社区进行非正式的、以文化为中介的自我调节，为解决协调人类需求与保护目标的复杂性提供了机会。