Arts-based participatory research for more equitable ocean governance in South Africa
- Authors: Strand, Mia
- Date: 2023-12
- Subjects: Marine resources conservation , Marine resources development , Law of the sea
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/66017 , vital:74307
- Description: This research explored the usefulness of arts-based participatory research (ABPR) in identifying more equitable ocean governance in South Africa. Co-developing the ABPR with Indigenous and local knowledge holders as co-researchers, the research expanded on opportunities to inform more equitable marine spatial planning (MSP) and marine protected areas (MPAs) processes. Working with 24 co-researchers in Algoa Bay (Eastern Cape) and 24 co-researchers in Mandeni (KwaZulu-Natal) for over two years, the thesis formulated and contextually adapted an approach incorporating photovoice and digital storytelling for co-researchers to share their ocean knowledges, priorities and stories. As people hold various priorities, interests and knowledges of the ocean, these knowledges shape how people interact with the ocean and coast. Despite a multitude of interconnected and complex ocean knowledges (pluriversality), a growing body of literature describes the exclusionary, top-down and inequitable nature of area-based ocean management in South Africa, which do not recognise Indigenous and local knowledge systems (ILKS). The research was conceptualised as a response to these realities, and the ABPR processes were developed with knowledge holders who felt excluded from current ocean governance approaches. Working within a broader theoretical framework of social and environmental justice, the research drew on contextually relevant literature and theoretical paradigms such as social sustainability, social-ecological systems, decolonial and postcolonial theory, social learning, transdisciplinary knowledge co-production and arts-based research. The ABPR methods were carefully crafted together with co-researchers, and photovoice experts assisted with cross-learning workshops. The ABPR included in situ photography and storytelling processes to ensure co-researchers could convey embodied, daily lived experiences or re-imagined connections with the ocean and coast. Embracing and reclaiming world-making through processes of participatory community mapping, the ABPR also facilitated collaborative analysis of co-researchers’ relationships and interactions with the ocean in light of current MSP and MPA processes. The final photostories from the ABPR processes were shared by the co-researchers at two multimedia exhibitions and two multi-stakeholder workshops that brought together relevant government representatives, coastal managers, conservation authorities, scientists and local community members. The results from the ABPR processes provided a number of novel and significant insights into ocean knowledges, connections and priorities that are currently not recognised in ocean governance processes in South Africa. Specifically, the ABPR proved useful in highlighting strong spiritual and traditional connections to the ocean and facilitating direct engagements and social learning processes between various ocean priorities to start bridging the gap between ILKS, marine science and ocean decision-making. Furthermore, the ABPR was valuable in mapping sociocultural priorities and interactions with the ocean, which could inform more inclusive and equitable MSP and MPAs processes. The ABPR surfaced opportunities for cognitive justice, where ILKS holders could own the knowledge production process, and identify opportunities for greater co-management in ocean decision-making. The insights from the research are relevant for several disciplines, research practices, and ocean governance processes. In summary, the ABPR process was useful to identify practical approaches and pathways necessary for embracing and working with the complexity of social-ecological marine systems and the plurality of ocean knowledges for more equitable ocean futures. , Thesis (DPhil) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-12
The use of fish species in a marine conservation plan for KwaZulu-Natal
- Authors: Haupt, Philip
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Fishery conservation -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Marine resources conservation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10681 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1528 , Fishery conservation -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Marine resources conservation
- Description: This study formed part of a larger provincial marine systematic conservation plan for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, called SeaPLAN. Owing to budget and time constraints, not all ± 1640 fish species that occur in the region were considered. A method to prioritise species was therefore developed to identify those species which were most at most risk of being excluded by a conservation plan based primarily on habitat representation (i.e. SeaPLAN). The method was based on three underlying principles: (i) species with limited conservation options; (ii) threatened species; and (iii) inherently vulnerable species. From these three principles, seven criteria were defined (e.g. endemic or rare species). Sixtyseven species met the qualifying conditions for these criteria and were consequently included in this study (FishPLAN). In order to map the distributions of these 67 fish species, the spatial and temporal accuracy of existing marine fish data for KZN was investigated. Only 17 percent of the data evaluated met the spatial resolution requirements of 1 km2, while temporal resolution was high: >99 percent of the data were collected at daily resolution. A resulting recommendation is that future data collection employ handheld data recording devices (with GPS capability), in order to increase the spatial accuracy of data, minimise human error and improve the efficiency of data flow. Species life cycle envelopes (SLICES) were developed to capture spatial differences in areas occupied during three life-cycle phases (reproductive, juvenile and feeding). Two distribution modelling techniques were used: Maxent, which uses quantitative data, and CHARMS (cartographic habitat association range models), which uses qualitative range data. A combination of statistical and biological criteria was used to determine the most informative and appropriate model for each species. Species distribution models (SDMs) were constructed for three temporal partitions of the data: annual, summer and winter. Patterns of species richness developed from the seasonal models showed seasonal differences in patterns that conformed to known seasonal distributions of fish assemblages: richness was higher in southern KZN during winter, while it was higher in northern KZN during summer. The resulting SDMs were used to develop a conservation plan for fish: conservation targets were set using the minimum recommended baseline of 20 percent of a species’ range, to which biological retention targets (additional proportion of the range) were added, in an attempt to ensure species persistence. The conservation targets were then adjusted using catch per unit effort (CPUE) data to match seasonal abundance of a given species. Within the existing network of marine protected areas (MPAs), none of the species’ targets are met by MPA sanctuary zones (zone As) alone, and all species require greater areas of protection. Three areas, namely offshore of the Tugela River mouth, the reefs offshore of Durban, and Aliwal Shoal, were consistently identified as being important in addition to existing MPAs for conservation of the fish species investigated. The greater efficiency of a seasonal MPA network to protect seasonally varying distributions of biodiversity, suggests that this may be a useful tool to consider in conservation management. The outcome of a conservation plan from this study (FishPLAN) was finally compared with the broader, more inclusive conservation plan, SeaPLAN. This comparison demonstrated how conservation plans based on a single group of species run the risk of identifying areas that are appropriate only for the relevant species, and might fail to conserve biodiversity as a whole.
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- Date Issued: 2011