Ways of belonging: meanings of “Nature” among Xhosa-speaking township residents in South Africa

Cocks, Michelle L; Alexander, Jamie K; Mogano, Lydia; Vetter, Susan M

Title: Ways of belonging: meanings of “Nature” among Xhosa-speaking township residents in South Africa
Creator: Cocks, Michelle L, Alexander, Jamie K, Mogano, Lydia, Vetter, Susan M
Date: 2016
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66021
Identifier: vital:28877
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.820
Description: publisher version
Description: The concept of biocultural diversity, originally used to describe indigenous people and their ways of using and managing natural resources, has more recently been applied within the urban context to understand the variability of interactions between humans and nature. Significant progress has been made internationally in acknowledging the need to preserve and maintain green spaces in urban environments. Current efforts to address the need for greening urban areas in South Africa primarily focus on the establishment and maintenance of botanical gardens and parks as well as various green belts within the urban landscape. South Africa's urban areas are overwhelmingly shaped by the historical segregation of space and stark disparities in wealth. The distribution, quality, and extent of urban green spaces reflect this. Many township dwellers do not have access to these amenities and their interactions with nature are thus usually constrained to access to municipal commonages. This article explores how areas of natural vegetation in municipal commonages on the outskirts of urban centers in South Africa continue to offer places of cultural, spiritual, and restorative importance to Xhosa-speaking township dwellers. A case study from Grahamstown, an urban center in the Eastern Cape with a population of around 80,000, illustrates how ability to access and move through such places contributes to people's well-being, identity formation, and shared heritage. A case is made for adopting a biocultural diversity approach to spatial planning and urban development within the South African context.
Format: 21 pages, pdf
Publisher: Society of Ethnobiology
Language: English
Relation: Journal of Ethnobiology, Cocks, Michelle, Alexander, Jamie, Mogano, Lydia and Vetter, Susanne.(2016) Ways of belonging: meanings of “Nature” among Xhosa-speaking township residents in South Africa. Journal of Ethnobiology, 2016, 36 (4), 820-841. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.820, Journal of Ethnobiology volume 36 number 4 820 841 December 2016 2162-4496
Rights: Society of Ethnobiology
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the National Library of South Africa Copyright Act (http://www.nlsa.ac.za/downloads/Copyright Act.pdf)

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