Traditional management outperforms national protection

I’m really interested in the efficacy of traditional land and population management. There is quite a bit of evidence that First Nations and Indigenous communities have engaged in land and species management for centuries. This was actively prevented during colonization. As a result, declining population numbers and biodiversity arise from a combination of factors including both removal of traditional management practices and exploitation and extraction of resources through western approaches.

Mara-Biggs and colleagues (2025) studied giant clam populations in American Samoa. They replicated a population survey from a previous study in order to understand population changes. One of their key findings was that the giant clam populations that were managed through traditional approaches had almost the same density as populations in remote areas that were inaccessible to any humans. On the other hand, the densities found with national marine protected areas were some of the lowest.

There has been a petition to list the giant clam, which includes multiple species, some of which are easily confused, under the endangered species act. This would make traditional management illegal and result in protection similar to that found in the marine protected areas. Based on Mara-Biggs and colleagues research this could be incredibly problematic for the survival of the giant clam.

One of the observations is that traditional management integrates cultural and community aspects. As a result, there are more people watching for inappropriate or illegal actions towards the clams.

I am not familiar with the local cultures but I am increasingly interested in how cultural stories like that of the Wendigo in Anishinaabe culture also contribute to appropriate management of species and resources. The Wendigo is a human that transforms into a monster because of their greed and always taking more than they need.

In biology, I was taught that full protection was the only way to protect species. But, more and more evidence, like this research on clams, shows that the issue isn’t use but how it is used and, in all honesty, how much we respect the species. I wonder how the study of biology would change if we acknowledged humans as part of an interconnected system rather than separate from it.