Intergenerational adaptation in a shifting landscape through Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and forest beekeeping
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Abstract. Wijayanti ARY, Arafat A, Nurhikmah. 2026. Intergenerational adaptation in a shifting landscape through Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and forest beekeeping. Asian J For 10 (1): r100114. https://doi.org/10.13057/asianjfor/r100114. This article aims to analyze how Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) related to forest beekeeping livelihoods is inherited, transformed, and negotiated across generations under social forestry arrangements. Focusing on the Buttu Puang community forest farmers group (KTH) in Tappina Village, Binuang Sub-district, Polewali Mandar District, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, the study employs a qualitative case study approach grounded in Berkes' corpus-praxis-cosmos framework. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis to examine intergenerational dynamics of ecological knowledge, forest management practices, and symbolic values amid socio-ecological change, involving 26 community members engaged in forest beekeeping, processing, and related activities. The findings indicate that TEK in forest beekeeping is not a static knowledge system but a dynamic and adaptive process shaped by changes in forest access, market rationalities, and shifting intergenerational values. While core ecological knowledge regarding forest flora and honeybee behavior remains relatively stable, intergenerational differences are evident in the modification of management practices and the reinterpretation of symbolic meanings. Knowledge transmission occurs through selective, situational, and negotiated processes rather than linear inheritance. These patterns indicate that continuity and change coexist within TEK, mediated through ongoing intergenerational negotiation rather than simple erosion or preservation. The study contributes to forestry and ethnobiology scholarship by demonstrating that the resilience of forest-based livelihoods under social forestry arrangements depends on maintaining social and ecological spaces that enable intergenerational learning and knowledge negotiation. Policy implications suggest that social forestry initiatives should move beyond preservation-oriented approaches and actively support adaptive, intergenerationally grounded knowledge systems to sustain community-based forest management.
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