Open AccessThe Role of Spirituality in the Decision-Making Process Related to Native Plant Restoration in a Southern Ontarian Aboriginal Community
Author(s) -
Verena Kulak
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
rural review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2563-1608
DOI - 10.21083/ruralreview.v2i1.6096
Subject(s) - mandate , spirituality , participatory action research , process (computing) , citizen journalism , environmental planning , environmental resource management , sociology , political science , geography , medicine , law , environmental science , computer science , anthropology , alternative medicine , pathology , operating system
This is a participatory research project with an Aboriginal community in Southern Ontario. My goal is to identify which species-at-risk are relevant to a community and to develop a strategy to restore biodiversity in a selected location with importance to that community. This research collaboration also includes the Gosling Research Institute of Plant Preservation (GRIPP), which has a mandate to reintroduce plants via tissue culture techniques. This study can help identify the role that spiritual connection to plants can have in the decision-making process regarding restoration of plants. The role of spirituality in environmental management is an understudied theme and my findings can enlighten future initiatives. One of the questions at this early stage of my research, is to determine the perceptions that a community has about the use of plant technology in general and cloning in particular, as means to restore land and maintain the spiritual connection to medicinal plants.