Ecology, Ecosystems and Coastal Management

Cultural Ecology

Cultural ecology approach evolved in the understanding man environment relationship. It gives technology and culture a central place in understanding human adaptation to the physical environment. It proposes a feedback loop in the process of 23 understanding human adaptation to environment. The methodology of cultural ecology suggests holistic approach to understanding man -environment relation. The concept of cultural ecology is less concerned with origin or diffusion of technology and the fact that technology may be used differently and entails different social arrangements in each environment. Thus societies equipped with bows, spears, bush burning, deadfall and other such hunting devices may differed among them because of the nature of fauna and flora. Other societies having about the same technological equipment may exhibit other social patterns because the perception of the environment differs to extend that the cultural adaptation must be different