Traditional ecological knowledge

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment.^[a]

The application of TEK in the field of ecological management and science is still controversial, as methods of acquiring and collecting knowledge—although often including forms of empirical research and experimentation— may differ from those most often used to create and validate scientific ecological knowledge.^{[citation needed]} Non-tribal government agencies, such as the U.S. EPA, have established integration programs with some tribal governments in order to incorporate TEK in environmental plans and climate change tracking. In contrast to the universality towards which contemporary academic pursuits often aim, TEK is not necessarily a universal concept among various societies, instead referring to a system of knowledge traditions or practices that are heavily dependent on "place".^{[citation needed]}

There is a debate whether Indigenous populations retain intellectual property rights over traditional knowledge and whether use of this knowledge requires prior permission and license.^{[2][better source needed]} This is especially complicated because TEK is most frequently preserved as oral tradition and as such may lack objectively confirmed documentation. As such, the same methods that could resolve the issue of documentation to meet legal requirements may compromise the very nature of traditional knowledge.

Traditional knowledge is used by its holders to maintain ecological resources necessary for survival.^{[citation needed]} While TEK and the communities which contain it are threatened in the context of rapid climate change or environmental degradation, TEK also can help to explain the impacts of those changes within the ecosystem.^{[citation needed]}

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