Bio-Cultural Diversity: Emerging Issues, Challenges & Prospects

"The very reason our planet can be said to be "alive" at all is because there exists here (and here alone, so far as we know) a profuse variety: of organisms, of divergent streams of human thought and behavior, and of geophysical features that provide a congenial setting for the workings of nature and culture. All three realms of difference have evolved so that they interact with and influence one another. Earth's interwoven variety what we call biocultural diversity - is nothing less than the pre-eminent fact of existence" quoted by David Harmon, Executive Director, The George Wright Society; Co-founder, Terralingua. It is therefore, more important to recognize that Bio-cultural approach is one which views humans as biological, social and cultural beings in relation to the environment and it views human biological variability as a function of responsiveness and adaptation to the environment with a special focus on the role of socio-cultural environments. Its significance consists in conceptual framework and models for understanding the dynamic interactions among human biological/phenotypic, psychological and socio-cultural traits in response to the environment. In this context this edited book speaks about the various issues related to bio-cultural diversity focusing on environment and climatic change, biological anthropology including impact of ageing, health care under diverted ecological settings, ethnic ecology and social policy. Most of the papers are drawn from rich data sources and the literature presented here contributes to the literature on bio-cultural diversity, emerging issues, challenges and opportunities.