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| Volume 105(1) 2005, pages: 43-55. | | Annika Dahlberg: | Local resource use, nature conservation and tourism in Mkuze wetlands, South Africa: A complex weave of dependence and conflict | | Competition over natural resources is a complex phenomenon. This
is explored through a case study in the Mkuze Wetlands, South
Africa, where fibrous plants are important to local women who produce
craftwork for the growing tourist market. The tourist industry
encourages this, but simultaneously promotes the wetlands as ‘a
wilderness untouched by man’. Conservation authorities fear the
harvesting of fibrous plants may degrade the wetlands but have to
accommodate local as well as tourism interests. The study investigates
this complex weave of dependence and conflict, and discusses
how efforts at negotiation and co-operation may become more constructive.
Present needs play an important role in shaping local
conflicts, but so do different interpretations of reality, difficulties in
evaluating sustainable use, and international markets and agendas
further compound the situation. The results demonstrate the existence
of multiple interpretations of the environment, and an unexpected
high degree of variability in resource use. Studies aiming to
provide a base for sound decisions on the management of resources
must take this into account and apply an interdisciplinary approach
that includes different theoretical frameworks and empirical data
sets, and that acknowledges the value of knowledge systems represented
outside academia. | | >> download as pdf |
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