ABSTRACT
This paper aims to highlight traditional indigenous knowledge vis-à-vis Eurocentric knowledge regarding the conservation of nature and the preservation of the environmental heritage. Considering the environmental crisis, the validation of indigenous ecological knowledge appears to be an alternative to development in face of the ineffective recipe of accumulation of goods and other vestiges of colonialism. The Inter-American System of Human Rights has recognized the collective rights of indigenous peoples on their land and natural resources. This recognition contains in itself an acceptance of the indigenous ecological knowledge, which could contribute to a new development model.
KEYWORDS:
Traditional ecological knowledge; Decolonization; Indigenous peoples; Natural resources; Human rights