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The Yi minority group has a long history, and their livelihoods and culture exist in complex, holistic interrelationship with forests. This paper aims to document the dynamic, traditional forest knowledge (TFK) of the Yi, including: forest categorization methods; routine forest utilization; land tenure and use-right arrangements; benefit-sharing mechanisms; customary regulations; and forest-related beliefs. Our analysis is based on rapid investigations conducted in two dozen Yi ‘natural villages’ and in-depth studies of three Yi natural villages in Nanhua County, Yunnan. The interrelationship between the forests and Yi livelihoods has developed through farming systems and daily livelihood practices. TFK has contributed to the protection of old-growth forests, which are essential to biodiversity conservation, as well as to human–nature harmonization and equitable resource access through benefit-sharing schemes. However, this knowledge appears to be vulnerable to government policy interventions, the expansion of increasingly globalized market economies, and declining interest in traditional wisdom, knowledge, and lifestyles among younger generations. Further, Yi people remain excluded from processes of policy formulation and implementation. This paper concludes that the inclusion of minority groups such as the Yi in policy formulation could substantially enhance sustainable forest management and social and economic development, while providing an avenue through which to recover and preserve rapidly-vanishing traditional knowledge and practices.
