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Revealing the Predominance of Culture over the Ecological Abundance of Resources in Shaping Local People’s Forest and Tree Species Use Behavior: The Case of the Vhavenda People, South Africa
- Source :
- Sustainability, Vol 11, Iss 11, p 3143 (2019), Sustainability, Volume 11, Issue 11
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2019.
-
Abstract
- The resurrection of the traditional socio-ecological knowledge system as a complimentary biodiversity conservation tool for poorly performing protected areas has fueled a new debate on what drives resource use behavior in forest landscapes. Using ecological assessment and ethno-botanical techniques, we tested whether culture or the ecological abundance of resources can sufficiently explain the use behavior of traditional society for various livelihood-related utilities. Data were analyzed using parametric and non-parametric tests. The two communities of the Vhavenda people had homogenous cultural values, despite the fact that they reside in different forest conditions. The use value of habitats increases along the land use intensity gradient, as defined by cultural norms and taboos. However, despite the presumed strictness of rules related to state-protected indigenous forest, it had the same use value as with open access resource use zones. Almost no resource harvesting from culturally protected (sacred) forests was reported. Species abundance did not sufficiently explain their use value. Generally, the findings show that culture plays a predominant role in explaining use behavior. Neither is resource use decision random nor is the concept of protected areas a new concept to traditional society. Hence, capitalizing on the benefits of cultural assets in conservation action, through genuine partnership and the empowerment of local people, will ensure the sustainability of global biodiversity initiatives.
- Subjects :
- land use gradients
0106 biological sciences
Value (ethics)
Resource (biology)
media_common.quotation_subject
Geography, Planning and Development
TJ807-830
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
cultural value
TD194-195
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Renewable energy sources
use value index
GE1-350
Empowerment
media_common
Environmental effects of industries and plants
Land use
traditional socio-ecological knowledge
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Ecology
ecological appearance hypothesis
Ecological assessment
Environmental sciences
010601 ecology
Geography
Sustainability
Traditional society
Global biodiversity
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20711050
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Sustainability
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....cd33c0794bbf7086268fb68c48329a30
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113143