Livestock ecosystem services and disservices in a medium-sized South African town
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Papama, Yose , Cockburn, Jessica J , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403241 , vital:69937 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2021.2019833"
- Description: Production of livestock in urban spaces is a common phenomenon globally, particularly in the Global South. Livestock provides multiple benefits to society yet its production in urban spaces can result in adverse impacts to residents that can trigger conflicts. Understanding of the ecosystem services and disservices of livestock from the perspectives of residents can inform inclusive local management plans. Using household surveys and key informant interviews, this study sought to examine the contribution of livestock to owners, and perceptions of livestock services and disservices among non-livestock owners and key informants in Makhanda, a medium-sized South African town. Livestock owners derived multiple benefits from their livestock, including provisioning services such as meat, milk, skins and draught, and use livestock and livestock products in cultural activities such as rituals, bride price payments and funerals that are key elements of local identity. Among residents, there were marked differences in perceptions on the services and disservices of livestock which points to potential conflicts over urban land use and the need for addressing trade-offs. A key trade-off for local municipal authorities is addressing hunger and poverty by supporting well-regulated urban livestock production versus managing potential livestock disservices such as injuries to humans, livestock-vehicle collisions, health hazards and damage to urban green infrastructure. The trade-offs should be understood and considered by local authorities and residents as a basis for collectively developing strategies that can integrate livelihoods and cultural realities to balance competing demands for urban spaces including livestock production and other uses.
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- Date Issued: 2022
The cultural significance of plant-fiber crafts in Southern Africa: a comparative study of Eswatini, Malawi, and Zimbabwe
- Authors: Pullanikkatil, Deepa , Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/399860 , vital:69564 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14728028.2021.1998797"
- Description: Traditional handicrafts made from various plant materials are produced by most cultures around the world. Many originated through symbolic and utilitarian needs that became ritualized through time, thereby gradually attaining greater value as cultural items or symbols rather than solely functional ones. Here we report on a survey of 343 crafters across Eswatini, Malawi, and Zimbabwe in southern Africa regarding the cultural uses and significance of the items they make from wild plant fibers and sell to local communities or tourists. The plant materials used were largely dictated by tradition and local availability and were crafted into a diverse range of products including baskets, mats, brooms, storage containers, hats, fish traps, ornaments, and furniture. Many products had uses and cultural significance at major ceremonies or rituals, such as weddings, funerals, initiation, and divination. The preparation and design of the different crafts were influenced by tradition as well as market demand as indicated by tourist fashions and advice provided by government or non-government agencies to boost income generation from crafts. Although the crafting of cultural objects is increasingly commercialized and subject to the tastes and fashions of tourist markets in the region, the traditional and cultural significance of such artifacts remains widely recognized and valued.
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- Date Issued: 2021
Electricity use behaviour in a high-income neighbourhood in Johannesburg, South Africa:
- Authors: Williams, Stephanie P , Thondhlana, Gladman , Kua, Harn W
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149725 , vital:38878 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114571
- Description: Worldwide, households’ consumption of electricity contributes to a substantial proportion of total national energy demand. Thus, the residential sector is a major entity in efforts to define and achieve global sustainability goals. Understanding electricity use behaviour and factors underlying behaviour is critical for designing behaviour change interventions, particularly in contexts characterised by fast-growing economies, burgeoning number of high-income households, and consumption growth. However, relative to developed economies, very little is known on this subject in South Africa. Using structured questionnaires, this study examines electricity use behaviour among high-income households in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Non-material costs of wildlife conservation to local people and their implications for conservation interventions:
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Redpath, Stephen Mark , Vedeld, Pål Olav , Van Eeden, Lily , Pascual, Unai , Sherren, Kate , Murata, Chenai
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150174 , vital:38946 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108578
- Description: In assessment of costs (and benefits) of wildlife conservation, conventional economic valuation frameworks may inadequately address various non-tangible values and neglect social, cultural and political contexts of resources and their use. Correspondingly, there seems to be much more focus on quantifying the economic, material benefits and costs of wildlife conservation than the non-material aspects that also affect human well-being. In addition, current research on the costs of wildlife conservation tends to be discipline-focused which constrains comparability, often causing conceptual ambiguity. This paper is an attempt to address this ambiguity. While there is growing acknowledgement of the material costs of wildlife conservation, we contend that employing a broader, composite social well-being approach may provide better conceptual insights on—and practical options for—managing various non-material impacts of wildlife conservation for local people.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Plant Fibre Crafts Production, Trade and Income in Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Pullanikkatil, Deepa , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175936 , vital:42642 , https://doi.org/10.3390/f11080832 , https://doi.org/10.21504/RUR.c.5388470.v1
- Description: The production of plant fibre products is considered a promising pathway for contributing to people’s livelihoods particularly in developing countries, where economic options might be limited. However, there are limited comparative studies across countries on plant fibre products, making it difficult to examine how local and broader biophysical, socioeconomic, cultural and policy contexts influence craft production patterns in terms of primary plant resources used, products made and contributions to livelihoods. Using household surveys for data collection, this paper presents findings from a comparative analysis of plant fibre craft production and income in three southern African countries, Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Understanding the context of multifaceted collaborations for social-ecological sustainability: A methodology for cross-case analysis
- Authors: Cockburn, Jessica J , Schoon, Michael , Cundill, Georgina , Robinson, Cathy , Aburto, Jamie A , Alexander, Steve M , Baggio, Jacopo A , Barnaud, Cecile , Chapman, Mollie , Llorente, Marina G , Garcia-Lopez, Gustavo A , Hill, Rosemary , Speranza, Chinwe I , Lee, Jean , Meek, Chanda L , Rosenberg, Eureta , Schultz, Lisen , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/370725 , vital:66371 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11527-250307"
- Description: There are limited approaches available that enable researchers and practitioners to conduct multiple case study comparisons of complex cases of collaboration in natural resource management and conservation. The absence of such tools is felt despite the fact that over the past several years a great deal of literature has reviewed the state of the science regarding collaboration. Much of this work is based on case studies of collaboration and highlights the importance of contextual variables, further complicating efforts to compare outcomes across case-study areas and the likely failure of approaches based on one size fits all generalizations. We expand on the standard overview of the field by identifying some of the challenges associated with managing complex systems with multiple resources, multiple stakeholder groups with diverse knowledges/understandings, and multiple objectives across multiple scales, i.e., multifaceted collaborative initiatives. We then elucidate how a realist methodology, within a critical realist framing, can support efforts to compare multiple case studies of such multifaceted initiatives. The methodology we propose considers the importance and impact of context for the origins, purpose, and success of multifaceted collaborative natural resource management and conservation initiatives in social-ecological systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Action for increasing energy-saving behaviour in student residences at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Ancha, Angel , Bulunga, Lindelwa , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67801 , vital:29146 , https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-07-2017-0107
- Description: Publisher version , Purpose: In response to increasing energy demand and financial constraints to invest in green infrastructure, behaviour change energy-saving interventions are increasingly being considered as a tool for encouraging pro-environmental behaviour in campus residences. This paper aims to report on a pilot programme aimed at reducing energy consumption via behaviour change interventions, variably applied in residences at Rhodes University, South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected via structured questionnaires, energy consumption records and post-intervention programme focus group discussions. Findings: Participant residences that received a mix of different interventions in the forms of pamphlets, face-to-face discussions, incentives and feedback recorded more energy reductions of up to 9 per cent than residences that received a single or no intervention. In post-experiment discussions, students cited personal, institutional and structural barriers to pro-environmental energy-use behaviour. Practical implications: Overall, the results of this study suggest that information provision of energy-saving tips combined with regular feedback and incentives can result in energy-use reductions in university residences, which may yield environmental and economic benefits for universities, but addressing barriers to pro-environmental behaviour might maximise the results. Originality/value: Given the lack of literature on energy conservation in the global South universities, this study provides the basis for discussing the potential for using behavioural interventions in universities for stirring pathways towards sustainability.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2018
Pro-Environmental behaviour in student residences at Rhodes University, South Africa:
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Hlatshwayo, Thina N
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144288 , vital:38328 , https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082746
- Description: Human behaviour is at the centre of most environmental problems; hence, the promotion of pro-environmental behaviour is considered to be a pathway towards sustainability. Despite the availability of insights gained from pro-environmental behaviour studies, mainly from household and workplace settings, a key question remains—can these insights be applied in university residence settings? Within university campuses, student residences are a major entity in sustainability debates because they are major consumers of resources including paper, water and energy with severe repercussions for university budgets and the environment. Using a questionnaire survey, this study explores reported pro-environmental behaviour and its determinants at Rhodes University, South Africa. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics where relevant. The findings show a high level of heterogeneity in reported pro-environmental behaviour, attributed to a suite of internal and external factors. Internal dispositional factors seemed to constrain students from acting pro-environmentally. This study highlights the need to encourage environmental behaviour in university residence settings by supporting the antecedents of and getting rid of barriers to pro-environmental actions.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Fuelwood preferences, use and availability in the #Khomani San resettlement farms, southern Kalahari, South Africa
- Authors: Nott, Michelle , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67667 , vital:29127 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14728028.2017.1294507
- Description: Publisher version , Local level assessments of fuelwood preferences, demand and supply are important for ensuring a balance between ecological functions and livelihood needs. This study reports on an examination of fuelwood preferences, use and abundance in the #Khomani San resettlement farms in southern Kalahari, South Africa. The results show that Acacia erioloba was the most preferred fuelwood species, while Acacia mellifera was abundant but avoided. Across the study area, there were approximately 64 trees ha−1 but riverine sites had significantly more trees (approximately 80 trees ha−1) than non-riverine sites (48 trees ha−1). Live trees showed evidence of damage (cutting or breaking) and this was more pronounced in the riverine sites (close to human settlement) than in the non-riverine sites. However, overall current woody stocks and productivity rates of harvestable fuelwood are well above current fuelwood demand, suggesting fuelwood use may be within sustainable limits, though there is evidence of localised fuelwood depletion. The implications of these results for fuelwood management interventions, including the importance of context, are discussed.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2017
Local people and conservation officials’ perceptions on relationships and conflicts in South African protected areas
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Cundill, Georgina
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68640 , vital:29300 , https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1315742
- Description: Protected areas (PAs) are often conflict-ridden, but conflict resolution mechanisms are often constrained by little appreciation of the perceptions of the principal agents (PA managers and local communities) about such conflicts. Getting local people’s support in PA management efforts is considered important for achieving conservation and livelihood goals. Using data from 13 nature reserves in South Africa, this study explores the perceptions of reserve managers and local communities about their relationships and the existence and underlying causes of conflicts. The findings showed sharp contrasts in perceptions between reserve managers and local communities. Reserve managers generally perceived that there were no conflicts with local communities and that their relationship with them was positive while local communities thought otherwise, claiming conflicts were centred around restricted access to PAs, lack of benefits from PAs and communication problems. These findings have profound implications for conservation, especially considering the importance of getting local people’s support in PA management.
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- Date Issued: 2017
A case study of the opportunities and trade-offs associated with deproclamation of a protected area following a land claim in South Africa
- Authors: Krüger, Ruth , Cundill, Georgina , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67791 , vital:29145 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2015.1065804
- Description: Publisher version , Reconciling conservation and social justice imperatives is a major challenge facing many postcolonial states worldwide. Where historically disenfranchised communities have laid legal claim to protected areas, the typical resolution has been collaborative management agreements between the state and claimant communities. The real outcomes of such strategies for people and ecosystems have been seriously questioned, although alternative approaches are seldom explored. Here, we reflect on one such alternative that was pursued in a case in South Africa, where the land was handed back to the community and a replacement protected area created. Our objective was to explore the opportunities and trade-offs associated with this approach for communities and conservation agencies alike, and to compare these to typical collaborative management outcomes. Methods included key informant interviews, focus group discussions and household surveys. We find that, surprisingly, this approach created more benefits for the conservation agency than for claimant communities. Indeed, the community experiences bore a striking resemblance to those experienced in collaborative management settings: intra-community conflict, confusion over leadership and serious questions about the boundaries of the “community”. Processes aimed at redressing past injustice in disputes over conservation land, regardless of the approach adopted, must bring with them a strong commitment to building institutional and leadership capacities within communities, and pay serious attention to the ways in which equity and social justice can be fostered after the settlement of a land claim. Settlement agreements are frequently treated as the final step towards social justice, but are in fact just the beginning.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Are people responsive to a more sustainable, decentralized, and user-driven management of urban metabolism?:
- Authors: Chelleri, Lorenzo , Kua, Harn W , Rodriguez Sanchez, Juan P , Nahiduzzaman, Kh M , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144299 , vital:38329 , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8253-0264
- Description: Smart, green, and resilient city paradigms have been mainly promoted through top-down and technocratic approaches. However, based on the notion to return to “the right to the city”, emerging community-driven initiatives are providing self-managed infrastructures contributing to urban sustainability transitions. This paper explores the relevance of the behavioral aspects of people-centered approaches in dealing with two different facets of urban metabolism: physical infrastructure (involvement with the management of decentralized infrastructures) and consumption patterns (involvement in proactive reduction of resources used). In the first case we assessed community perceptions about the roles, benefits, and willingness to proactively engage in the management of decentralized green infrastructures in Bogotá City, Colombia. For the second facet, we measured the effectiveness of change agents in re-shaping energy consumption decisions within urban social networks in South Africa and Saudi Arabia. This paper’s results show that pre-determined and standardized strategies do not guarantee positive, nor homogeneous, results in terms of meeting sustainability targets, or promoting community involvement. Hence, a better integration of people-centered and top-down approaches is needed through context-dependent policies, for enhancing both users’ appreciation of and commitment to urban metabolism participative management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Co-management, land rights, and conflicts around South Africa’s Silaka Nature Reserve
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Cundill, Georgina , Kepe, Thembele
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67781 , vital:29144 , https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2015.1089609
- Description: Publisher version , Globally, co-management of protected areas (PAs) offers promise in efforts to achieve ecological integrity and livelihood needs. Most co-management agreements are premised on joint decision making in defining equitable sharing of benefits from and the management responsibilities for natural resource management. However, co-managed PAs are often conflict ridden. The forceful closure of Silaka Nature Reserve in South Africa in 2013 by a local community epitomizes the conflicts that can emerge in co-management arrangements. Using Silaka Reserve as a case study, we ask questions related to the meaning of land to local people, with an interrogative focus beyond “material benefits” in co-management discourse. The results of this study show that apart from nonaccrual of material benefits, conflicts arise from nonrecognition of nonmaterial aspects such as cultural values of and historical attachment to land and limited involvement of land claimants in decision making. The implications for co-management as a desired outcome on settled land claims are discussed.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: energy use and recycling at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Mtutu, Paidamoyo , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67743 , vital:29136 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2015.11.031
- Description: Publisher version , The rapid expansion of student numbers, staff and support infrastructures in higher education institutions often result in increased demand for resources such as energy and paper. Promoting pro-environmental behaviour is critical if higher education institutions are to achieve sustainable resource use. Using surveys, reported energy use and recycling behaviour of staff and students in the Faculty of Education at Rhodes University, South Africa was explored. The results showed that self-reported pro-environmental behaviour was mediated by demographic factors and personal values such as ‘liking of aesthetic beauty and biodiversity’, ‘social relations’, ‘a varied life’ and ‘freedom’. Personal values, though key in shaping participants' attitudes toward the environment did not always translate into pro-environmental behaviour. Situational factors beyond the control of participants were cited as barriers to pro-environmental actions. Lessons from this study point to the need to carefully study the assumptions underlying intervention strategies aimed at promoting pro-environmental behaviour and to get rid of barriers to enable pro-environmental actions.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Food waste generation and potential interventions at Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Painter, Kathleen , Thondhlana, Gladman , Kua, Harn W
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67733 , vital:29135 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.07.013
- Description: Publisher version , Estimation of food waste generation represents the first step when considering efforts to reduce waste generation and monitor food waste reduction against set targets. This study reports on an estimation of food waste generated in university dining halls at Rhodes University, South Africa. Daily food waste generation was estimated at about 555 g per student or 2 tonnes across all sample dining halls, translating to about 450 tonnes per year. The results show that food waste is influenced by an array of contextual factors, including distance to dining hall, gender composition of hall and meal times and meal options. It is estimated that the university could save up to US$ 80 000 annually for every 10% reduction in the current rate of food waste generation. Possible educational, technical and administrative interventions for food waste reduction are discussed.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Land acquisition for and local livelihood implications of biofuel development in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Biomass energy -- Government policy -- Zimbabwe Biomass energy -- Economic aspects -- Zimbabwe Biomass energy -- Environmental aspects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/49940 , vital:25944
- Description: In recent years, proponents of 'green and clean fuel' have argued that the costs of overreliance on fossil fuels could be reduced through transition to biofuels such as bio-ethanol. Global biofuel discourses suggest that any transition to biofuel invariably results in significant benefits, including energy independence, job creation, development of agro-industrial centres at local level and high revenue generations for the state with minimum negative impacts on the environment. With many risks and costs associated with traditional 'dirty' fuels, it is likely that many countries, particularly African countries, will move towards the 'green and clean fuel' alternative. However, until recently research has arguably paid limited attention to the local livelihood impacts related to land acquisition for biofuel development or the policy frameworks required to maximise biofuel benefits. With regards to biofuel benefits, some recent studies suggest that the much bandied potential for greater tax revenue, lowered fuel costs and wealth distribution from biofuel production have all been perverted with relatively little payoff in wage labour opportunities in return (e.g. Richardson, 2010; Wilkinson and Herrera, 2010). Based on work done in Chisumbanje communal lands of Zimbabwe (Thondhlana, 2015), this policy brief highlights the local livelihood impacts of biofuel development and discusses policy implications of the findings. By highlighting the justifications of biofuel development at any cost by the state, the study sheds some light on the conflicts between state interests and local livelihood needs.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Students’ reception of peer assessment of group-work contributions: problematics in terms of race and gender emerging from a South African case study
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Belluigi, Dina Z
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59784 , vital:27649 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1235133
- Description: Participatory assessment is increasingly employed in higher education worldwide as a formative mechanism to support students’ active learning. But do students in an increasingly relationally diverse environment perceive that peer assessment of individuals’ contributions to group-work tasks enhances their learning? Recognising the impact of students’ conceptions on the quality of their learning, this study considers students’ perspectives of peer assessment of group-work contributions at a South African university. Questionnaires elicited students’ perspectives of and general attitudes towards assessment of and by their peers. A growing measure of discontent with the process of assessing peer contributions to group tasks emerged, including actual and perceived racial and gender stereotyping, and related rejection-sensitivity. These initial findings were checked against the students’ experiences in a report-and-respond process that enabled probing discussions of the interpretations. This paper examines and explores the implications of such identifications and receptions for learning engagement and group-work curriculum development in the context of a rapidly transforming higher education sector.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
The effect of land-use on small mammal diversity inside and outside the Great Fish River Nature Reserve, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Lagesse, Juliette V
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67823 , vital:29150 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2016.03.006
- Description: Publisher version , This study investigated small mammal species diversity at 10 paired contrast sites along a fence line inside and outside the Great Fish River Nature Reserve (GFRNR), Eastern Cape, South Africa. The sites outside the GFRNR are used for subsistence land-based activities including livestock production and fuelwood harvesting. From 145 live captures, a total of 114 unique individuals of five small mammal species (four rodents and one elephant shrew) were recorded over 1170 trap nights. Average small mammal species diversity and abundance were significantly higher inside the reserve than outside. Human activities such as livestock grazing seemed to explain low levels of small mammal diversity and abundance at the communal sites. Vegetation variables showed a complex interplay with small mammal diversity. In general, high vegetation diversity had a positive influence on small mammal diversity though the influence of some environmental variables was species-dependent. We conclude that the GFRNR is effective in protecting small mammals but the findings raise questions around the influence of land use practices such as livestock grazing on biodiversity, especially given that local communities in South Africa are continuously seeking greater access to reserves for livestock grazing and other provisioning services.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Unpacking Pandora’s box: Understanding and categorising ecosystem disservices for environmental management and human wellbeing
- Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Ruwanza, Sheunesu , Sinasson Sanni, Gisele , Bennett, S , De Lacy, Peter , Modipa, Rebone D , Mtati, Nosiseko , Sachikonye, Mwazvita T B , Thondhlana, Gladman
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182113 , vital:43801 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-015-9952-z"
- Description: Research into the benefits that ecosystems contribute to human wellbeing has multiplied over the last few years following from the seminal contributions of the international Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In comparison, the fact that some ecosystem goods and services undermine or harm human wellbeing has been seriously overlooked. These negative impacts have become known as ecosystem disservices. The neglect of ecosystem disservices is problematic because investments into the management or reduction of ecosystem disservices may yield better outcomes for human wellbeing, or at a lower investment, than management of ecosystem services. Additionally, management to optimise specific ecosystem services may simultaneously exacerbate associated disservices. We posit that one reason for the neglect of ecosystem disservices from the discourse and policy debates around ecosystems and human wellbeing is because there is no widely accepted definition or typology of ecosystem disservices. Here, we briefly examine current understandings of the term ecosystem disservices and offer a definition and a working typology to help generate debate, policy and management options around ecosystem disservices. We differentiate ecosystem disservices from natural hazards and social hazards, consider some of their inherent properties and then classify them into six categories. A variety of examples are used to illustrate the different types of, and management strategies to, ecosystem disservices.
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- Date Issued: 2016
Cultural values of natural resources among the San people neighbouring Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67699 , vital:29131 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.818950
- Description: Publisher version , Globally, cultural values of natural resources are increasingly recognised as important for local natural resource management and conservation in and beyond parks. The tendency has been to focus on the direct-use rather than the cultural values and importance of natural resources. The cultural values underlying natural resources (directly or indirectly used) and various natural resource-based activities, and the implications for conservation, remain little explored. Drawing from household surveys, in-depth qualitative interviews, observations and secondary data, we explore the cultural significance of natural resources and different land-use practices among the San people bordering Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa. Our findings illustrate that though cultural values are inextricably linked to resource use, they are not recognised by all community members. Further, cultural values arise from a diverse and sometimes conflicting array of values that punctuate individuals' lifestyles. A better understanding of context-specific cultural settings and the linkages between the cultural and material dimensions of resource use can lead to the development of interventions that can ensure effective conservation of both natural resources and culture.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015