Nature-Connectedness and Well-Being Experienced During Best and Worst Times of Life: A Case for Safeguarding Biocultural Diversity
- Møller, Valerie, Cocks, Michelle L, Vetter, Susanne M
- Authors: Møller, Valerie , Cocks, Michelle L , Vetter, Susanne M
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426516 , vital:72359 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03063-3"
- Description: South Africa boasts some of the richest diversity of fauna and flora in the world; it also claims to be a world in one country given its cultural diversity. In a time of climate change, rapid population growth and urbanisation, the country’s natural resources as well as its cultural diversity are under threat. We report a multi-dimensional survey conducted among Xhosa-speaking people in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, that collected detailed information on indigenous knowledge of nature and its impact on cultural practices and well-being. Survey respondents included both rural and urban dwellers, a majority of whom professed to be Christians who also held traditional religious beliefs and acknowledged the ancestors. Survey respondents described their Best and Worst periods of life in line with Bernheim’s Anamnestic Comparative Self-Assessment, and indicated whether going into nature had contributed to their Best life experience and helped them to cope during their Worst one. Being in nature typically contributed to well-being across many of the Best social domains of life, such as celebrations with family, personal achievements and milestones in life, including traditional rites of passage to adulthood. Deaths in the family represented by far the most common Worst experience in life when going into nature often provided comfort and solace. Findings suggest that experience of the multiple benefits of being in nature may be universal across cultures and that many traditional Xhosa religious beliefs and cultural practices go hand in hand with access and exposure to nature that enhances well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Møller, Valerie , Cocks, Michelle L , Vetter, Susanne M
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426516 , vital:72359 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03063-3"
- Description: South Africa boasts some of the richest diversity of fauna and flora in the world; it also claims to be a world in one country given its cultural diversity. In a time of climate change, rapid population growth and urbanisation, the country’s natural resources as well as its cultural diversity are under threat. We report a multi-dimensional survey conducted among Xhosa-speaking people in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, that collected detailed information on indigenous knowledge of nature and its impact on cultural practices and well-being. Survey respondents included both rural and urban dwellers, a majority of whom professed to be Christians who also held traditional religious beliefs and acknowledged the ancestors. Survey respondents described their Best and Worst periods of life in line with Bernheim’s Anamnestic Comparative Self-Assessment, and indicated whether going into nature had contributed to their Best life experience and helped them to cope during their Worst one. Being in nature typically contributed to well-being across many of the Best social domains of life, such as celebrations with family, personal achievements and milestones in life, including traditional rites of passage to adulthood. Deaths in the family represented by far the most common Worst experience in life when going into nature often provided comfort and solace. Findings suggest that experience of the multiple benefits of being in nature may be universal across cultures and that many traditional Xhosa religious beliefs and cultural practices go hand in hand with access and exposure to nature that enhances well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
From universal to local: perspectives on cultural landscape heritage in South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Vetter, Susanne M, Wiersum, K Freerk
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Vetter, Susanne M , Wiersum, K Freerk
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141150 , vital:37948 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2017.1362573
- Description: The concept of cultural landscapes relates to the multifaceted links between people, place and identity. From a professional perspective, the concept refers to a category of designated conservation areas with specific biocultural heritage values. From a local perspective, it may refer to a landscape that is associated with the provision of a culturally-specific sense of identity and belonging. We explore these two perspectives through a comparative analysis of three cultural landscapes in South Africa, the ‘expert’ designated Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, and the local associative landscape of emaXhoseni, which is not formally recognised. We propose that a biocultural diversity perspective of heritage not only recognises the inextricable relationship between nature and culture, but it also gives prominence to the beliefs, values and practices of local people, and to strengthening their agency to safeguard their heritage in ways and forms that are relevant to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Vetter, Susanne M , Wiersum, K Freerk
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141150 , vital:37948 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2017.1362573
- Description: The concept of cultural landscapes relates to the multifaceted links between people, place and identity. From a professional perspective, the concept refers to a category of designated conservation areas with specific biocultural heritage values. From a local perspective, it may refer to a landscape that is associated with the provision of a culturally-specific sense of identity and belonging. We explore these two perspectives through a comparative analysis of three cultural landscapes in South Africa, the ‘expert’ designated Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, and the local associative landscape of emaXhoseni, which is not formally recognised. We propose that a biocultural diversity perspective of heritage not only recognises the inextricable relationship between nature and culture, but it also gives prominence to the beliefs, values and practices of local people, and to strengthening their agency to safeguard their heritage in ways and forms that are relevant to them.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Ways of belonging: meanings of “Nature” among Xhosa-speaking township residents in South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Alexander, Jamie K, Mogano, Lydia, Vetter, Susanne M
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Alexander, Jamie K , Mogano, Lydia , Vetter, Susanne M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66021 , vital:28877 , https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.820
- Description: publisher version , 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.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Alexander, Jamie K , Mogano, Lydia , Vetter, Susanne M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66021 , vital:28877 , https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.820
- Description: publisher version , 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.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
'God is my forest': Xhosa cultural values provide untapped opportunities for conservation
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P, Vetter, Susanne M
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P , Vetter, Susanne M
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141198 , vital:37952 , DOI: 10.4102/sajs.v108i5/6.880
- Description: In South Africa conservation is still largely framed in terms of Western scientific values, with a focus on material benefits to local communities, whilst little is known about the intangible values local people attach to nature and biodiversity. We explored the cultural, spiritual and emotional relationships with nature expressed by Xhosa people, within the MaputalandPondoland-Albany Hotspot, as well as the activities that mediate this relationship. A descriptive research approach was applied to document the emotions, meanings and values associated with landscape elements. This approach included group and individual interviews and ‘walk-in-the-woods’ interviews and participatory mapping exercises. Respondents portrayed a strong, although not always easily articulated, appreciation for nature, especially ihlathi lesiXhosa (‘Xhosa forest’, vegetation types within the Thicket Biome).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P , Vetter, Susanne M
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141198 , vital:37952 , DOI: 10.4102/sajs.v108i5/6.880
- Description: In South Africa conservation is still largely framed in terms of Western scientific values, with a focus on material benefits to local communities, whilst little is known about the intangible values local people attach to nature and biodiversity. We explored the cultural, spiritual and emotional relationships with nature expressed by Xhosa people, within the MaputalandPondoland-Albany Hotspot, as well as the activities that mediate this relationship. A descriptive research approach was applied to document the emotions, meanings and values associated with landscape elements. This approach included group and individual interviews and ‘walk-in-the-woods’ interviews and participatory mapping exercises. Respondents portrayed a strong, although not always easily articulated, appreciation for nature, especially ihlathi lesiXhosa (‘Xhosa forest’, vegetation types within the Thicket Biome).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
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