TY - JOUR
T1 - Falaj Indigenous knowledge in Oman and Iran
AU - Saif Al-Ghafri, Abdullah
AU - Labbaf Khaneiki, Majid
AU - Al Saqri, Nasser A.
AU - Al-Kindi, Khalifa M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - Both Oman and Iran possess a harsh environment where people’s survival and development entail a deep knowledge about their surroundings. A considerable part of this knowledge has crystallized around the falaj, a hydraulic technique that transfers water from a groundwater source or seasonal runoffs to cultivated lands, in Omani and Iranian oases, that has historically served as the only water source in an otherwise barren arid land. This article argues that the spatial extent of the falaj confronts local communities with a variety of questions to be solved. This article also tries to answer how the falaj system contributed to the development of modern sciences in a broader context. The article concludes that a transition from Indigenous knowledge to modern sciences has changed the position of local communities from coexistence to over-exploitation in terms of their water resources, and this transition can explain their current water problems.
AB - Both Oman and Iran possess a harsh environment where people’s survival and development entail a deep knowledge about their surroundings. A considerable part of this knowledge has crystallized around the falaj, a hydraulic technique that transfers water from a groundwater source or seasonal runoffs to cultivated lands, in Omani and Iranian oases, that has historically served as the only water source in an otherwise barren arid land. This article argues that the spatial extent of the falaj confronts local communities with a variety of questions to be solved. This article also tries to answer how the falaj system contributed to the development of modern sciences in a broader context. The article concludes that a transition from Indigenous knowledge to modern sciences has changed the position of local communities from coexistence to over-exploitation in terms of their water resources, and this transition can explain their current water problems.
KW - human ecology
KW - Indigenous knowledge
KW - Iranian qanat
KW - Omani falaj
KW - water management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162988256&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/11771801231168668
DO - 10.1177/11771801231168668
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85162988256
SN - 1177-1801
VL - 19
SP - 484
EP - 494
JO - AlterNative
JF - AlterNative
IS - 2
ER -