ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on nature of all traditional knowledge which contributes to sustainable conservation practices, or that there is one unitary body of Indigenous knowledge. It focuses on nature of the intimate relationship with the powers as it relates to the great crisis of this moment in time, a crisis that has been defined as "a potentially fatal rift between human beings and the earth", its contribution to the "Great Work" of our own day and to the role of Human Ecology as a twenty-first century social science. The chapter examines on core of Indigenous ontology's lies a deep understanding of the meaning and practice of interconnectivity and of spirit that is vital in this stage of the transformational journey of humankind. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which resulted from the 1992 UNEP "Earth Summit" or RIO conference at Rio de Janeiro was the first major international document to recognize the contribution of Indigenous and traditional communities towards the maintenance of biological diversity.
