Traditional Knowledge Systems for Biodiversity Conservation by Deep Narayan Pandey 1 Introduction Traditional knowledge is vital for sustainability of natural resources including forests, water, and agro-eco systems across landscape continuum spanning from households through farms, village, commons and wilderness. Here, I examine the traditional knowledge on biodiversity, particularly in the light of contemporary research on traditional and formal knowledge systems and demonstrate the value of traditional knowledge for biodiversity conservation. I also revisit the efficacy of traditional knowledge systems for conservation. I identify recent developments in local knowledge research and interface this with the challenges that contemporary society faces in India and how local knowledge can be useful to address the biodiversity conservation. Humanity faces exceptional challenge of eroding natural resources and declining ecosystems services due to a multitude of threats created by unprecedented growth and consumerism. Also imperiled is the biodiversity and sustainability of the essential ecological processes and life support systems (Chapin et al., 2000) in human dominated ecosystems across scales (Vitousek et al., 1997). Indeed, human-domination of earth is evident in global change (Ayensu et al., 1999; Lawton et al., 2001; Phillips et al., 1998; Schimel et al., 2001; Forest et al., 2002), biodiversity extinctions (Bawa and Dayanandan 1997; Sala et al., 2000; Singh, 2002) and disruption of ecosystem functions (Loreau et al., 2001). Ecological problems coupled with unequal access to resources results in human ill-being and threats to the livelihood security of the world's poorest (Pandey, 1996; Balvanera et al., 2001). Traditional Knowledge for Sustainability To avert the threats, natural and social sciences have helped by acquiring and applying knowledge about ecosystem conservation and restoration and by strengthening the policy and practice of sustainable development. Scientific research on human-environmental interactions is now a budding sustainability science (Kates et al., 2001). The concept recognises that the well-being of human society is closely related to the well-being of natural ecosystems. The intellectual resources, on which the sustainability science is building on, need to take into account the knowledge of local people as well. We need, therefore, to foster a sustainability science that draws on the collective intellectual resources of both formal sciences, and local knowledge systems of knowledge (often referred as ethno-science) 2 (Pandey, 2001).