Recent interest by Western scientists in Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has raised expectations that some level of integration between two very different cosmologies is possible and together can address current problems of ecological degradation. Panelists with experience in both Western science and TEK will discuss how this integration could work in restoration ecology and conservation biology at the ethical, theoretical, and practical levels. While recent research by western scientists strongly suggests that traditional land management systems by some indigenous culture groups have maintained or enhanced high levels of biodiversity in a sustainable way over long spans of time, little attention has been paid to how researchers can access TEK in collaborative research projects which not only extract useful knowledge but which are reciprocal in their support for the survival of the cultures which hold this living oral library, and respect for indigenous intellectual property and traditional resource rights. Since both western and indigenous science are involved in making nature observations and interpretations, the panel will evaluate the methodologies of indigenous and western science, including the strengths and weaknesses of western scientific generalized theories and mathematical modeling, long-term diachronic observations by indigenous cultures, modern scientific technological field applications, and indigenous land management systems. Western science and TEK will be defined with attention to the theoretical and practical limits of each way of knowing, and the importance of associative cultural landscapes will be discussed with respect to the conceptual reconstruction of reference ecosystem models for ecological restoration and ecosystem management.