Terralingua

Terralingua is an international nonprofit organization whose central mission is the integrated protection, maintenance, and restoration of the biocultural diversity of life. The organization treats biological diversity, cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity as interconnected dimensions of a single social and ecological system rather than as separate conservation or development concerns. Its work brings together environmental conservation, Indigenous and local knowledge, language rights, cultural resilience, and public policy. Terralingua was created in 1996 by anthropologist and linguist Luisa Maffi and researcher Dave Harmon. The founders helped establish biocultural diversity as a distinct field of research and practice, building on emerging scholarship about the relationships among ecosystems, human cultures, and languages. In its launch year, the organization convened the conference “Endangered Languages, Endangered Knowledge, Endangered Environments” at the University of California, Berkeley. The event connected researchers from the social, natural, linguistic, and behavioral sciences with Indigenous thinkers and activists around what Terralingua characterized as a converging extinction crisis. The organization’s activities have included mapping biocultural diversity, developing measures for tracking change, supporting the maintenance and revitalization of linguistic and cultural diversity, networking among researchers and practitioners, and promoting policies that recognize cultural factors in conservation. Terralingua places particular emphasis on sustaining linguistic diversity as a whole and on strengthening the resilience of bioculturally diverse regions, rather than limiting its work to the documentation of individual endangered languages. Terralingua’s research and publications helped give the field a practical and quantitative foundation. Its work included an Index of Biocultural Diversity that compared patterns of cultural and biological diversity, an index for monitoring trends in Traditional Environmental Knowledge, and an Index of Linguistic Diversity that tracked changes in the number of mother-tongue speakers across the world’s languages. These projects were intended to move discussion beyond anecdotal accounts and demonstrate parallel pressures on linguistic and biological diversity. The organization has collaborated with or contributed to initiatives involving UNESCO, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, museums, universities, and other research institutions. Its publications have included foundational theoretical works, educational materials, policy resources, and a global sourcebook on biocultural diversity conservation. Terralingua has also supported a community-of-practice portal, educational campaigns, school curriculum development, and study guides for students and the broader public. Terralingua is organized as a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit and as a registered nonprofit society in Canada. It has received support from organizations including the Ford Foundation, the Christensen Fund, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre, as well as from academic and international partners. Its work has been discussed by outlets including The New York Times, Wired, National Geographic, and other media. The organization’s public identity remains centered on the idea that the long-term health of ecosystems is inseparable from the vitality of the peoples, languages, knowledge systems, and cultural practices associated with them.

Terralingua began operations in 1996 as a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and protecting biocultural diversity. Its founding reflected growing recognition that the loss of biological species, human cultures, and languages is interconnected. Luisa Maffi and Dave Harmon were central to developing the organization and to advancing biocultural diversity as a field that combines ecological, anthropological, linguistic, and policy perspectives. The organization’s first major public event was the 1996 Berkeley conference “Endangered Languages, Endangered Knowledge, Endangered Environments.” It brought together scholars, conservation practitioners, Indigenous representatives, and activists to examine the relationships among language decline, knowledge loss, environmental degradation, and cultural change. Within two years, Terralingua was receiving invitations to work with major international conservation, cultural, educational, and research institutions, including WWF, UNEP, UNESCO, IUCN, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and museums and universities. Terralingua’s early intellectual contribution was reinforced through publications by its founding members. In 2001, Luisa Maffi published “On Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge, and the Environment,” and in 2002 Dave Harmon published “In Light of Our Differences: How Diversity in Nature and Culture Makes Us Human.” Both works helped articulate the theoretical basis for connecting language, traditional knowledge, culture, and ecosystems. In 2001, the organization also received an unsolicited Ford Foundation grant, described as the first foundation grant explicitly made for biocultural diversity research and applications. The support allowed Terralingua to establish a continuing program organized around mapping, measurement, maintenance, networking, and policy. In 2003, Terralingua collaborated with UNESCO on “Sharing a World of Difference,” an educational booklet accompanied by a map presenting global linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. In 2004, it developed an Index of Biocultural Diversity using available data on languages, religions, ethnic groups, birds, mammals, and plants. The index was designed to quantify the overlap between cultural and biological diversity and to provide a comparative basis for examining their global distribution. The organization expanded its measurement work during the late 2000s. In 2008, it developed an index intended to track trends in Traditional Environmental Knowledge. In 2009, it created an Index of Linguistic Diversity to measure changes in the number of mother-tongue speakers worldwide. These efforts supported Terralingua’s argument that linguistic and biological diversity show related patterns of persistence and decline and that both require long-term monitoring. Terralingua also became involved in policy and convening. In 2008, it co-organized, with IUCN and the American Museum of Natural History, the symposium “Sustaining Cultural and Biological Diversity in a Rapidly Changing World: Lessons for Public Policy” in New York. That year, the organization co-developed and co-sponsored an international policy resolution asking IUCN to integrate cultural diversity with biodiversity conservation. The IUCN Member Assembly accepted the related motion at the fourth World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. In 2010, Terralingua published “Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook,” authored by Luisa Maffi and Ellen Woodley, and launched an accompanying community-of-practice portal. The resource was designed for researchers, conservation professionals, policymakers, and the public. Subsequent activities described for the organization include educational outreach, school curriculum and study-guide development, support for grassroots organizations, and projects intended to restore ecological and cultural resilience at landscape and regional scales. Terralingua operates as a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit and a registered nonprofit society in Canada, with a base on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. Its support has included grants from the Ford Foundation, the Christensen Fund, and the International Development Research Centre, along with institutional and academic assistance. A 2007 bequest from former member Aldon Roat became an important source of funding. Terralingua’s work has attracted coverage and commentary from international media and specialist publications, while its core mission has remained the integration of environmental conservation with cultural continuity, language diversity, and human rights.

• 2010

  Global sourcebook and community portal

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Terralingua publishes a global sourcebook on biocultural diversity conservation and launches a companion community-of-practice portal.

• 2009

  Index of Linguistic Diversity

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Terralingua develops an index intended to quantify global trends in mother-tongue speakers and linguistic diversity.

• 2008

  New York biocultural diversity symposium

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Terralingua co-organizes an international symposium with IUCN and the American Museum of Natural History on conservation and public policy.

• 2008

  IUCN policy motion

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  An IUCN Member Assembly motion accepts the principle that cultural diversity should be incorporated into biodiversity conservation policy.

• 2004

  Index of Biocultural Diversity

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Terralingua develops an index combining cultural and biological indicators to examine the global state and geographic overlap of biocultural diversity.

• 2003

  UNESCO educational booklet and map

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Terralingua and UNESCO publish educational material presenting the global relationships among people, languages, cultures, and ecosystems.

• 2001

  Ford Foundation grant establishes long-term program

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  A Ford Foundation grant supports a sustained program covering mapping, measurement, maintenance, networking, and policy for biocultural diversity.

• 1996

  Terralingua is founded

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Luisa Maffi and Dave Harmon establish Terralingua to advance the protection of biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity as an integrated field of work.

• 1996

  First biocultural diversity conference

  [1]Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org

  Terralingua organizes the Berkeley conference “Endangered Languages, Endangered Knowledge, Endangered Environments,” bringing together scientists, Indigenous thinkers, and conservation practitioners.

A mission-driven research, education, and advocacy organization that connects biodiversity conservation with linguistic rights, cultural continuity, Indigenous and local knowledge, and ecological resilience.

• Book · 2001

  On Biocultural Diversity: Linking Language, Knowledge, and the Environment

  A foundational scholarly work by Luisa Maffi that explains the conceptual relationships among language, traditional knowledge, culture, and environmental systems. The book helped establish the intellectual framework used by Terralingua and later biocultural-diversity research.

• Book · 2002

  In Light of Our Differences: How Diversity in Nature and Culture Makes Us Human

  A book by Dave Harmon examining diversity in nature and human culture and presenting the case for treating the two forms of diversity as mutually connected dimensions of human and ecological life.

• Educational publication · 2003

  Sharing a World of Difference

  An educational booklet produced with UNESCO that introduces the connections among the Earth’s linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. It was accompanied by a map intended to make global patterns of biocultural diversity accessible to a broad audience.

• Research index · 2004

  Index of Biocultural Diversity

  A quantitative framework using indicators such as languages, religions, ethnic groups, birds, mammals, and plants to compare cultural and biological diversity and investigate their geographic overlap.

• Research index · 2009

  Index of Linguistic Diversity

  An index designed to track changes in the number of mother-tongue speakers across the world’s languages, enabling a quantitative assessment of trends in linguistic diversity rather than relying only on individual language case studies.

• Reference book · 2010

  Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook

  A global reference work by Luisa Maffi and Ellen Woodley that presents concepts, examples, and practical approaches for conserving biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity together. It was intended for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and communities.

• Online portal · 2010

  Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Community of Practice

  An online companion to the global sourcebook, designed to connect researchers, conservation professionals, policymakers, educators, and members of the public around applied biocultural-diversity work.

• 2008Sustaining Cultural and Biological Diversity in a Rapidly Changing World

  International

  A symposium co-organized with IUCN and the American Museum of Natural History examined lessons for public policy and approaches to sustaining cultural and biological diversity.

  Outcome. The event supported wider policy discussion and complemented Terralingua’s work to place cultural diversity within mainstream conservation debates.

  Source
• 2003UNESCO biocultural diversity education initiative

  International

  Terralingua worked with UNESCO to communicate the relationships among languages, cultures, ecosystems, and species through an educational booklet and map.

  Outcome. The initiative produced public-facing educational materials that broadened access to biocultural-diversity concepts.

  Source
• 1996Endangered Languages, Endangered Knowledge, Endangered Environments

  United States · International academic and conservation community

  Terralingua’s inaugural conference campaign brought together specialists and Indigenous advocates to frame language loss, knowledge erosion, and environmental decline as interconnected aspects of a wider extinction crisis.

  Outcome. The event helped establish Terralingua’s convening role and provided an early platform for the biocultural-diversity concept.

  Source
• Biocultural Diversity educational outreach campaign

  International · Academic institutions · Schools · Public-sector organizations

  Terralingua developed broad educational outreach aimed at academics, conservation professionals, policymakers, schools, and the general public, including curriculum and study-guide work.

  Outcome. The campaign extended the organization’s research and policy work into public education and student engagement.

  Source

• 2009

  Measure trends in linguistic diversityOther

  Background

  Terralingua sought to replace purely anecdotal assessments of language decline with a quantitative measure of changes in speaker populations.

  Action taken

  It developed the Index of Linguistic Diversity to track trends in mother-tongue speakers across the world’s languages.

  Aftermath

  The work supported comparisons between linguistic-diversity trends and patterns of biodiversity loss.

  Source

• 2008

  Seek formal integration of cultural diversity into biodiversity policyStrategy

  Background

  Terralingua argued that conservation policy was incomplete when it treated ecosystems separately from the languages, cultures, and knowledge systems of the people connected to them.

  Action taken

  The organization co-developed and co-sponsored an international policy resolution asking IUCN to integrate cultural diversity with biodiversity conservation.

  Aftermath

  The IUCN Member Assembly accepted a related motion at the fourth World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

  Source

• 2004

  Adopt quantitative measurement of biocultural diversityOther

  Background

  Terralingua sought a way to demonstrate the relationship between cultural and biological diversity using comparable global data.

  Action taken

  It developed the Index of Biocultural Diversity using cultural and biological indicators, including languages, religions, ethnic groups, birds, mammals, and plants.

  Aftermath

  The index provided an empirical framework for assessing global patterns and overlap between the two forms of diversity.

  Source

1. 1Terralinguaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Terralingua official websiteterralingua.org