Perceptions and values of local landscapes: implications for the conservation of biocultural diversity and intangible heritage

Cocks, Michelle L; Dold, Anthony P

Title: Perceptions and values of local landscapes: implications for the conservation of biocultural diversity and intangible heritage
Creator: Cocks, Michelle L
Creator: Dold, Anthony P
Date Issued: 2012
Date: 2012
Type: text
Type: book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141442
Identifier: vital:37972
Identifier: ISBN 9789086867493
Identifier: DOI: 10.3920/978-90-8686-749-3_10
Description: South Africa is widely recognised as a highly diverse country with regard to its people, culture, landscapes, biological resources and ecology. The importance of policies on protecting cultural diversity and how they relate to the environment is only just emerging at an international level, but in South African we find there is a complete lack of institutional support for rural communities’ attachment to local landscapes. The main objective of this case study is to improve our understanding of the meanings and values that Xhosa people (amaXhosa) of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa attach to their natural landscapes. It is clear that the amaXhosa are still intrinsically connected to their natural environment, in particular the thicket biome that is called ihlathi yesiXhosa (Xhosa forest). Access to places and spaces within the natural environment provides a sense of wellbeing, a link to ancestral spirits, a location for religious rituals, plus a wealth of culturallyinspired uses of specific species and sacred places in the landscape. We suggest that local cultural values could be incorporated into the formal conservation process.
Format: 13 pages
Format: pdf
Publisher: Wageningen Academic Publishers
Language: English
Relation: Cocks, M. and Dold, T., 2012. Perceptions and values of local landscapes: implications for the conservation of biocultural diversity and intangible heritage. In Forest-people interfaces (pp. 167-179). Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen.
Rights: Authors
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the SpringerLink Terms of Use Statement (https://link.springer.com/termsandconditions)

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