Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is always evolving.  This is because of the human traits of curiosity, adaptability, and inventiveness.  TEK develops because someone figures out how to do something that they need to do and then tells his or her tribe about it.  This way is adopted as TEK, but if a better way to do that thing is figured out, usually the people will do it the new way.  Human beings are adaptable animals that constantly invent new ways to do things.  Our brains are capable of what seems like unlimited inventiveness.
Another reason that TEK is always evolving is that the environment is evolving and TEK can be described as problem-solving the environment.  If the environment changes, then knowledge about that environment and how to survive in it changes as well. 
A question then comes to mind: if traditional ecological knowledge is always evolving, then is it still traditional?  I think so.  I think that in this context, the word traditional describes knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation locally as a tradition, in contrast with knowledge learned from formal education.  This knowledge is bound to change as groups of people become exposed to other groups of people, as new ideas and tools are invented, and as the environment changes.
Sustainability is a hallmark of TEK.  For ecological knowledge to be useful and successful enough to be passed down from generation to generation, it must not use up the resources of the land.  Once a resource is gone, the knowledge about how to exploit that resource is unnecessary, and therefore is not passed on to the next generation.
Many agree that the concept of sustainability will play a key role in the survival of our species.  If we can learn to live by the concept of sustainability, then possibly we can stop or slow the mass extinction going on right now.  If we do that we will be safer because the more diversity our environment has, the more stable it is, and the less chance we will have of an environmental catastrophe.
Because the survival of the human race might depend on whether we can practice sustainability, which is a hallmark of TEK; TEK is important for our survival. TEK will always be evolving, and it is necessary to keep us on the right track.  TEK is necessary because it is an evolved knowledge of the local ecology.  It is knowledge that focuses on the needs of people rather than their wants.  It is knowledge that has evolved so as not to contain any non-necessities or outdated information.  TEK is part of human evolution and when we lose it we stop evolving.  And a species that cannot evolve cannot survive for long.