Water Conservation and Wastewater Treatment in BRICS Nations - Chapter 16 - Indigenous knowledge systems in sustainable water conservation and management

Considering the significance of the indigenous knowledge systems toward addressing key environmental concerns, in this chapter, an attempt has been undertaken to address the indigenous knowledge system for water conservation and management. The country of India together with a few representatives from the African continent are considered wherein indigenous knowledge systems for water management are still very much prevalent and sometimes are at par with the modern knowledge systems. Today, there is an increasing attention across the globe to integrate the knowledge of local or indigenous communities in decision- or policy-making processes involving conservation of environment including water management. We argue that an appropriate association between traditional and modern scientific knowledge has immense potential to address and combat most of the key environmental issues of the current world including concerns associated with water conservation and management.