One part of the theme ”ethics and folklorism” concerns the ethnologist and his/her research, the other one folklorism itself.
Ethics is not a frequented word in the other part, although this
phenomenon - because of its importance it has in the society -
would deserve it. In the dominating part of the entire phase of
folklorism, there is no extensive awareness of ethical effect of several activities. Today, it is very difficult to differ in particular regions or locations, what has survived as a relic of older
traditions, what has been included in them for various reasons, how the first arrangers, choreographers, whose results were often passed off as transmissions of original materials, proceeded at their flights of imaginations. The phenomenon that we could call as “folk culture free for use” remains big problem as well. Here we are also missing an ethica codex that, however, does not concern just ethnology. The general need for ethics in relation to cultural tradition is not deep-rooted at all by us. It is a widely social matter and it should concern cultural tradition in the legal sense of the word - not to exploit it, not to misuse it commercially, to understand it as a part of national culture. In addition to the research principles, it is thus necessary to promote generally the fact that nobody may behave destructively or unethically to cultural heritage of any nature.
The issue of ethics is reflected in all UNESCO conventions.
For ethnology, Convention on Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Convention on the Protection and Promotion of
the Diversity Cultural Expressions, Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage are the most important ones. UNESCO is based on faith in universal values on which it also builds itsattitude to ethical aspects of the research. It tries to establish common values and criteria for all countries, taking into a
special account the development countries. It is the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that deals with the issue
of ethics in relation to traditional knowledge, traditional cultural
expressions, and folklore. The most important aspects for the
protection of cultural heritage include the respect for cultural
diversity among nations, and the protection from the misuse of
traditional knowledge and awareness including their
commercialization.
Larvae and adults of Korynetes caeruleus (de Geer 1775) (Coleoptera: Cleridae) were collected from old churches and reared in the laboratory on Anobium punctatum (de Geer 1774) (Coleoptera: Ptinidae). Breeding success of K. caeruleus was low, but basic parameters of this species' developmental cycle were identified. At 21°C and 75% relative humidity and a four-month cold period at 4°C, the development of K. caeruleus from egg to adult appearance lasted 2 years. The pupal stage may be reached and completed after one and a half years. Feeding on larvae of A. punctatum by larvae of K. caeruleus was observed and consisted of a combination of sucking haemolymph and consuming body parts. The sickle-like mandibles of larvae of K. caeruleus penetrate the cuticle of prey larvae; this is followed by pumping and sucking body movements. Adult beetles of A. punctatum were not attacked by K. caeruleus larvae. Feeding behaviour of adult K. caeruleus was not investigated.
In the text, the authors demonstrate that a Czech open-air museum was founded in Prague in 1895, well ahead other European countries. It was the first open-air museum in the then Europe south of Scandinavia. It was far ahead of its time also through the connection with a large collection museum. The original exhibition village changed into a permanent open-air museum. The Czech "skansen", likewise the Swedish one, meant an inspiration for further exhibition and museum projects. From the very beginning of the existence of an ethnographic village at the Czechoslavic
Ethnographic Exhibition, it was planned to maintain it. For subsequent six years, the village was used for ethnographic and cultural purposes, just as current open-air museums are. Its spaces were not closed and non-functional. For this reason, we could consider the ethnographic village to be “wooden heritage”, which does no longer exist now. Despite its uniqueness, and scholar, social and cultural benefits, the ethnographic village from the year 1895 has not survived. Its extinction in the year 1901 was caused by a wood-decay fungus. The authors believe there is still a possibility of renewing this ethnographic village
Among the extant non-flying terrestrial mammals of the Mediterranean islands, we can find very few of the endemic elements that characterised the late Quaternary faunas. Instead, the existing faunas are almost exclusively dominated by continental taxa, as a rule regionally specific, related to species on the nearest mainland, and whose presence on the islands appears to be essentially related to human intervention. The legacy of this global reorganisation of the original ecological equilibrium brought about by man since prehistoric times raises considerable problems of conservation and management. First of all, in the vast majority of cases, it is impossible to reconstruct the natural ecosystems of the past, which have been degraded for millennia. However, this leaves the question of how to treat the anthropochorous mammalian populations of certified ancient origin. Several of them, in fact, represent invaluable historic documents. Frequently, they may also constitute the last survivors of continental populations which themselves vanished long ago. Their protection and their study can provide an opportunity for testing a range of different evolutionary theories, while also allowing them to be considered as an authentic “cultural heritage".