The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

Local expressions of indigenous knowledge
In particular, the principle of reciprocity is essential for balance in life. Because these
notions assume the identity of the knower and the known, realisation of interdependence
means embodying and living it. Such interconnectional perspectives, as Massanari
writes,
»represent significant frameworks for environmental ethics because of their commitment to an ecocentric,
as opposed to an anthropocentric or egocentric, understanding. Realizing the interdependent self
leads naturally to an eco-centric view characterized by a reflective and active interconnection with all
things« (1997: 277).
This perception integrates human beings into the natural world, with a responsibility
to care for it according to ancestral customs. The natural world is expected to nurture
in turn, providing physical and spiritual sustenance. This is a way of taking care of the
divine forces so that they will continue to regenerate the cosmos. The exemplified image
of the natural world as the parent of humans is readily understandable: humans
are dependent upon the natural world, which gives them life and provides for them.
In this way, it has been shown that the subsistence farming practices comprise more
than just working with elements such as soil, crops and seeds. They involve the application
of values and rules that reflect a notion of a sacred landscape. People form and
attach significance to features bound to their social existence and environment that
can be perceived in a material and in an imaginary way. The local landscape is created
through experience and engagement with the world. The landscape is interwoven with
understandings of belonging in terms of rootedness, equilibrium, cohesion and the
anchoring of ownership of the land by the territorial imagery representing nature.
Ecosystems are in part socially constructed, and resource management and conservation
practices are based on a variety of social processes. At its core, the ethnographic
research revealed the importance of symbolic devices such as images and
normative representations that appeared as a relevant aspect of knowledge processes.
These phenomena only became intelligible in situated contexts. To study knowledge
means to study social interaction and involves the notion of multiple realities that collide
in interface situations. The concept of interface has been discussed by Arce and
Long (1992). They refer to studies of interface situations in the field of rural development
that aim to explore the discontinuities of face-to-face encounters between individuals
with differing interest, resources and power and the dynamic character of the
interactions that take place, showing how actors' interests, perceptions, values and relationships
are reinforced or reshaped by this social interactional process. Such an approach
focuses upon the interplay of different constructions of reality developed by
the various parties and traces out their social implications and proved to be of value
for analysing the production, dissemination and transformation of knowledge.
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