Environment Governance, Sustainable Livelihood and Indigenous Knowledge in Ethnic Tourism Villages of China

Tourism and Cultural Industry Research Institute, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming, Yunnan, China

^* Corresponding Author: shangqianlang@ynufe.edu.cn

Abstract

The rapid expansion of tourism in Chinese ethnic areas has promoted changes in livelihood activities and ecosystems. Ethnic indigenous knowledge has played an essential role in environmental governance and sustainable livelihood. The paper integrates local knowledge theory with the Sustainable Livelihood Approach (SLA) framework, proposes cultural capital as a critical component of livelihood capital, and illustrates the influence of indigenous knowledge on sustainable livelihood by analyzing how indigenous knowledge transforms into cultural livelihood capital typical cases. The research results show that excavation and utilization of indigenous knowledge can increase the family cultural livelihood capital, optimize the choice of family livelihood strategy, and improving the level of environmental governance, which ultimately affects the sustainability of family livelihood. Finally, the paper puts forward some suggestions on using indigenous knowledge to govern the tourism community.