Paper short abstract:

Although the ecological, socio-cultural and economic environment changes drastically, small-scale farmer communities’ relationship with wild animals is still significantly determined by traditional values and beliefs, current drivers have only a negligible impact on the attitude of local farmers.

Paper long abstract:

Direct and indirect drivers, like ecological, social, cultural, economic and political changes influence extensive land-use systems and the structure of the European cultural landscapes and so the local flora and fauna. These changes have an impact on resource-management practices, on local communities, and shape traditional ecological knowledge as well. Our aim is to reveal different layers and sources of traditional ecological knowledge of vertebrates in a farmer community in the Eastern Carpathians, Romania.

We conducted 92 semi-structured and structured interviews with 52 participants between 2010-2019 about the biology of vertebrates. The aim of the interviews was to study the dynamic character and different sources and layers of the traditional ecological knowledge.

More than 100 vertebrate folk taxa are known. A diversity of negative and positive economic and cultural prejudices influences the relationships to the different folk taxa (e.g. transcendent-based aversion from certain species, as common toad). These attitudes are determined by traditional ecological knowledge stems from different local and outer sources. Although education has been present at least since the beginning of the 20th century, and national media sources have been available and popular from the ‘90s, these channels have only insignificant impact on local ecological knowledge. The paper enlightens nature of the typical narratives are surround the preferred and non-preferred species. These stories show that local community’s relationship with and patterns of behaviour to wild animals is still significantly determined by traditional values and beliefs, current drivers have only a negligible impact on the attitude of local farmers.