Biocultural diversity: moving beyond the realm of ‘indigenous’ and ‘local’ people
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7107 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010681
- Description: During the past decade the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity has received increased attention, resulting in the identification of what the Declaration of Belém calls an ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity. Although the term biocultural diversity, introduced to denote this link, is being used increasingly, there has been little critical reflection on what it precisely refers to. I argue that it is used with particular reference to ‘indigenous traditional’ people, but that there is scope for extending its application within biocultural discourse. I therefore review the concept of culture and discuss what constitutes cultural values of the natural environment. I conclude that the concept of culture must be understood as involving a dynamic process of transcultural exchange and constant re-articulations of tradition resulting in the persistence of certain cultural practices. This approach ultimately reveals that the concept of biocultural diversity is also applicable to non-indigenous traditional communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7107 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010681
- Description: During the past decade the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity has received increased attention, resulting in the identification of what the Declaration of Belém calls an ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity. Although the term biocultural diversity, introduced to denote this link, is being used increasingly, there has been little critical reflection on what it precisely refers to. I argue that it is used with particular reference to ‘indigenous traditional’ people, but that there is scope for extending its application within biocultural discourse. I therefore review the concept of culture and discuss what constitutes cultural values of the natural environment. I conclude that the concept of culture must be understood as involving a dynamic process of transcultural exchange and constant re-articulations of tradition resulting in the persistence of certain cultural practices. This approach ultimately reveals that the concept of biocultural diversity is also applicable to non-indigenous traditional communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Fuelwood harvesting and selection in Valley Thicket, South Africa
- Pote, J, Shackleton, Charlie M, Cocks, Michelle L, Lubke, Roy
- Authors: Pote, J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L , Lubke, Roy
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005972
- Description: The Thicket Biome is the second smallest biome in South Africa, and is renowned for its high biodiversity. Yet, less than 5% of the biome is in formal conservation areas. Much of the currently intact thicket outside protected areas is threatened by land transformation to commercial agriculture or heavy use by rural communities. There is limited understanding of the ecological structure and function of thicket communities and their response to these human pressures. This paper reports on a study to characterize the woody communities in Valley Thicket and Thornveld surrounding a rural village. We also examined the demand and selection for specific woody species. There was a marked selection for key species for different uses, including fuelwood, construction timber, and cultural stacks. There was also strong selection for specific size classes of stem, especially those between 16–45 cm circumference. The density, biomass and species richness of woody species was reduced close to the village, and increased with distance away from human settlement. A similar trend was found for the basal area of preferred species, but not for the basal area of all species. The strong selectivity for both species and size class means that the anthropogenic impacts are not uniform within the woody strata, leading to marked changes in community structure and floristics at a local scale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Pote, J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L , Lubke, Roy
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005972
- Description: The Thicket Biome is the second smallest biome in South Africa, and is renowned for its high biodiversity. Yet, less than 5% of the biome is in formal conservation areas. Much of the currently intact thicket outside protected areas is threatened by land transformation to commercial agriculture or heavy use by rural communities. There is limited understanding of the ecological structure and function of thicket communities and their response to these human pressures. This paper reports on a study to characterize the woody communities in Valley Thicket and Thornveld surrounding a rural village. We also examined the demand and selection for specific woody species. There was a marked selection for key species for different uses, including fuelwood, construction timber, and cultural stacks. There was also strong selection for specific size classes of stem, especially those between 16–45 cm circumference. The density, biomass and species richness of woody species was reduced close to the village, and increased with distance away from human settlement. A similar trend was found for the basal area of preferred species, but not for the basal area of all species. The strong selectivity for both species and size class means that the anthropogenic impacts are not uniform within the woody strata, leading to marked changes in community structure and floristics at a local scale.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
Plants for health, life and spirit in Africa : implications for biodiversity and cultural diversity conservation
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6617 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016225
- Description: [From Introduction] Natural resources are often only perceived as contributing to rural livelihoods through food production and household welfare. There is a growing wealth of information capturing the direct-use values of the environment and consequent recognition of natural resources as being “the poor man's overcoat”. These approaches, however, have failed to fully account for the various ways in which different groups of people make use of, and find value in biodiversity. New developments within the field of anthropology have begun to explore the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity. This view has largely come about because many of the areas of highest biological diversity are inhabited by indigenous and traditional people, providing what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an 'inextricable link' between biological and cultural diversity (Posey 1999). The term bio-cultural diversity was introduced by Posey in 1999 to describe the concept denoting this link. , Funding was received from the South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) and the International Foundation of Science (IFS)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6617 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016225
- Description: [From Introduction] Natural resources are often only perceived as contributing to rural livelihoods through food production and household welfare. There is a growing wealth of information capturing the direct-use values of the environment and consequent recognition of natural resources as being “the poor man's overcoat”. These approaches, however, have failed to fully account for the various ways in which different groups of people make use of, and find value in biodiversity. New developments within the field of anthropology have begun to explore the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity. This view has largely come about because many of the areas of highest biological diversity are inhabited by indigenous and traditional people, providing what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an 'inextricable link' between biological and cultural diversity (Posey 1999). The term bio-cultural diversity was introduced by Posey in 1999 to describe the concept denoting this link. , Funding was received from the South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) and the International Foundation of Science (IFS)
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Seeing the wood for the trees: the role of woody resources for the construction of gender specific household cultural artefacts in non-traditional communities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Bangay, Lindsey, Wiersum, K Freerk, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Bangay, Lindsey , Wiersum, K Freerk , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6823 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003830
- Description: There is a growing wealth of data capturing the direct-use values of the environment and recognition of forests and wild resources as representing ‘‘the poor man’s overcoat’’. This focus has however resulted in an emphasis on the utilitarian values of wild resources for rural livelihoods and has for the most part overlooked their cultural values. In tangent to these developments within the field of anthropology there has been increased attention directed towards the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity over the past decade. This has resulted in the recognition of what the Declaration of Belem calls an ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity. The term bio-cultural diversity has been introduced as a concept denoting this link. Consequently there is a need for more elaborate assessments of the various ways in which different groups of people find value in biodiversity. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the cultural significance of wild harvested plant resources for the maintenance of two gender specific cultural artefacts for amaXhosa people in South Africa, to assess the persistence of these practices in rapidly modernizing communities. We demonstrate the endurance of these ancient cultural artefacts in present-day peri-urban communities and suggest that they point to the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity. The findings of the study should not be interpreted as illustrating stagnation in the traditional past, but rather as pointing at the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity in a dynamic sense.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Bangay, Lindsey , Wiersum, K Freerk , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6823 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003830
- Description: There is a growing wealth of data capturing the direct-use values of the environment and recognition of forests and wild resources as representing ‘‘the poor man’s overcoat’’. This focus has however resulted in an emphasis on the utilitarian values of wild resources for rural livelihoods and has for the most part overlooked their cultural values. In tangent to these developments within the field of anthropology there has been increased attention directed towards the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity over the past decade. This has resulted in the recognition of what the Declaration of Belem calls an ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity. The term bio-cultural diversity has been introduced as a concept denoting this link. Consequently there is a need for more elaborate assessments of the various ways in which different groups of people find value in biodiversity. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the cultural significance of wild harvested plant resources for the maintenance of two gender specific cultural artefacts for amaXhosa people in South Africa, to assess the persistence of these practices in rapidly modernizing communities. We demonstrate the endurance of these ancient cultural artefacts in present-day peri-urban communities and suggest that they point to the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity. The findings of the study should not be interpreted as illustrating stagnation in the traditional past, but rather as pointing at the need for improved understanding of the significance of bio-cultural diversity in a dynamic sense.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
The medicinal use of some weeds, problem and alien plants in the Grahamstown and Peddie districts of the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Dold, Anthony P, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6514 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005942
- Description: A List of 33 medicinal plants of exotic or indigenous origin, listed as problem plants or declared weeds, is presented. The cultural uses of these plants should be taken into account when weed legislation in South Africa is considered. Of these species, six have no previous medicinal uses recorded in the literature surveyed and 21 species have additional, previously unrecorded uses. Nine previously unrecorded Xhosa names for plants are documented. Plant use categories and indigenous knowledge is discussed regarding the recorded species. The use of alien plants shows that African traditional healing is not static, but dynamic and adaptive.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6514 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005942
- Description: A List of 33 medicinal plants of exotic or indigenous origin, listed as problem plants or declared weeds, is presented. The cultural uses of these plants should be taken into account when weed legislation in South Africa is considered. Of these species, six have no previous medicinal uses recorded in the literature surveyed and 21 species have additional, previously unrecorded uses. Nine previously unrecorded Xhosa names for plants are documented. Plant use categories and indigenous knowledge is discussed regarding the recorded species. The use of alien plants shows that African traditional healing is not static, but dynamic and adaptive.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2000
The role of 'African Chemists' in the health care system of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6508 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005935
- Description: Self-medication is documented as an integral part of health care therapy in developing countries such as Ethiopia, Cameroon, Uganda and Mexico. In South Africa the types of illnesses and health problems that are referred to both traditional healers and biomedical practices have been well documented. However, very little literature exists on self-diagnosis, self-medication or sources of the medicines used for self-medication. This bias in the literature has come about largely because anthropological studies have focused on the later stages of the illness referral system when treatment is sought from a specialist for symptoms which have not responded to forms of self-medication. As a result of this, health care studies have documented the more exceptional exotic healing rituals and culturally bound syndromes of a particular society or community, and not discussed the more ordinary practices of self-medication of everyday illness. Self-medication is however an important initial response to illness and many illnesses are successfully managed at this stage. Amayeza stores (singular-iyeza store) — or ‘African chemists’ — are an important source of medicines for self-diagnosed illnesses. The current discussion focuses on the types of medicines and treatments that are obtained from amayeza stores without professional consultation in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6508 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005935
- Description: Self-medication is documented as an integral part of health care therapy in developing countries such as Ethiopia, Cameroon, Uganda and Mexico. In South Africa the types of illnesses and health problems that are referred to both traditional healers and biomedical practices have been well documented. However, very little literature exists on self-diagnosis, self-medication or sources of the medicines used for self-medication. This bias in the literature has come about largely because anthropological studies have focused on the later stages of the illness referral system when treatment is sought from a specialist for symptoms which have not responded to forms of self-medication. As a result of this, health care studies have documented the more exceptional exotic healing rituals and culturally bound syndromes of a particular society or community, and not discussed the more ordinary practices of self-medication of everyday illness. Self-medication is however an important initial response to illness and many illnesses are successfully managed at this stage. Amayeza stores (singular-iyeza store) — or ‘African chemists’ — are an important source of medicines for self-diagnosed illnesses. The current discussion focuses on the types of medicines and treatments that are obtained from amayeza stores without professional consultation in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
The role of ‘African Chemists’ in the health care system of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7105 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010675
- Description: Self-medication is documented as an integral part of health care therapy in developing countries such as Ethiopia, Cameroon, Uganda and Mexico. In South Africa the types of illnesses and health problems that are referred to both traditional healers and biomedical practices have been well documented. However, very little literature exists on self-diagnosis, self-medication or sources of the medicines used for self-medication. This bias in the literature has come about largely because anthropological studies have focused on the later stages of the illness referral system when treatment is sought from a specialist for symptoms which have not responded to forms of self-medication. As a result of this, health care studies have documented the more exceptional exotic healing rituals and culturally bound syndromes of a particular society or community, and not discussed the more ordinary practices of self-medication of everyday illness. Self-medication is however an important initial response to illness and many illnesses are successfully managed at this stage. Amayeza stores (singular-iyeza store) — or ‘African chemists’ — are an important source of medicines for self-diagnosed illnesses. The current discussion focuses on the types of medicines and treatments that are obtained from amayeza stores without professional consultation in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2000
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7105 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010675
- Description: Self-medication is documented as an integral part of health care therapy in developing countries such as Ethiopia, Cameroon, Uganda and Mexico. In South Africa the types of illnesses and health problems that are referred to both traditional healers and biomedical practices have been well documented. However, very little literature exists on self-diagnosis, self-medication or sources of the medicines used for self-medication. This bias in the literature has come about largely because anthropological studies have focused on the later stages of the illness referral system when treatment is sought from a specialist for symptoms which have not responded to forms of self-medication. As a result of this, health care studies have documented the more exceptional exotic healing rituals and culturally bound syndromes of a particular society or community, and not discussed the more ordinary practices of self-medication of everyday illness. Self-medication is however an important initial response to illness and many illnesses are successfully managed at this stage. Amayeza stores (singular-iyeza store) — or ‘African chemists’ — are an important source of medicines for self-diagnosed illnesses. The current discussion focuses on the types of medicines and treatments that are obtained from amayeza stores without professional consultation in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
The trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Dold, Anthony P, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6512 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005940
- Description: A study of the trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa undertook to document the species traded, to determine the quantities harvested annually, and to assess the economic value of the trade. All the participants involved at the different levels of the trade were included in the survey, that is, informal street hawkers, owners of amayeza esiXhosa stores, traditional healers, and consumers of traditional medicines. In total, 282 questionnaires were administered in six urban centres. It was found that poorly educated black middle-aged women of low economic standing dominate the trade. A minimum of 166 medicinal plant species were traded at the study sites alone, providing 525 tonnes of plant material valued at approximately R27 million annually. Plants were harvested from a diverse range of vegetation types including Valley Thicket, Afromontane Forest, Coastal Forest and Moist Upland Grassland, the most frequently sold species differing significantly from those documented in similar studies in other regions. The Forest Biome was the vegetation type found to be most threatened by over-harvesting. Of the species documented, 93% were being harvested unsustainably and 34 species have been prioritised for conservation management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6512 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005940
- Description: A study of the trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa undertook to document the species traded, to determine the quantities harvested annually, and to assess the economic value of the trade. All the participants involved at the different levels of the trade were included in the survey, that is, informal street hawkers, owners of amayeza esiXhosa stores, traditional healers, and consumers of traditional medicines. In total, 282 questionnaires were administered in six urban centres. It was found that poorly educated black middle-aged women of low economic standing dominate the trade. A minimum of 166 medicinal plant species were traded at the study sites alone, providing 525 tonnes of plant material valued at approximately R27 million annually. Plants were harvested from a diverse range of vegetation types including Valley Thicket, Afromontane Forest, Coastal Forest and Moist Upland Grassland, the most frequently sold species differing significantly from those documented in similar studies in other regions. The Forest Biome was the vegetation type found to be most threatened by over-harvesting. Of the species documented, 93% were being harvested unsustainably and 34 species have been prioritised for conservation management.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
Traditional veterinary medicine in the Alice district of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Dold, Anthony P, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2001
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6513 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005941
- Description: Resource-poor farmers in rural and peri-urban areas have limited access to veterinary care in terms of support services (from state and private veterinarian and animal health technicians), information about the prevention and treatment of livestock diseases, and preventative and therapeutic veterinary medicines. This results in reduced productivity and in livestock disease and deaths, which is a great burden on these farmers, who can least afford the loss of their animals. There is a need to encourage disadvantaged farmers to use available resources and methods, at minimal cost, and to improve their productivity. One of these resources is ethnoveterinary medicine. A list of 53 plants used as veterinary medicines by stock farmers in the Alice district in the Eastern Cape is presented together with their preparation and methods of administration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2001
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6513 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005941
- Description: Resource-poor farmers in rural and peri-urban areas have limited access to veterinary care in terms of support services (from state and private veterinarian and animal health technicians), information about the prevention and treatment of livestock diseases, and preventative and therapeutic veterinary medicines. This results in reduced productivity and in livestock disease and deaths, which is a great burden on these farmers, who can least afford the loss of their animals. There is a need to encourage disadvantaged farmers to use available resources and methods, at minimal cost, and to improve their productivity. One of these resources is ethnoveterinary medicine. A list of 53 plants used as veterinary medicines by stock farmers in the Alice district in the Eastern Cape is presented together with their preparation and methods of administration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2001
Use of indigenous and indigenised medicines to enhance personal well-being: a South African case study
- Cocks, Michelle L, Moller, Valerie
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010679
- Description: An estimated 27 million South Africans use indigenous medicines (Mander, 1997, Medicinal plant marketing and strategies for sustaining the plant supply in the Bushbuckridge area and Mpumalanga Province. Institute for Natural Resources, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa). Although herbal remedies are freely available in amayeza stores, or Xhosa chemists, for self-medication, little is known about the motivations of consumers. According to African belief systems, good health is holistic and extends to the person's social environment. The paper makes a distinction between traditional medicines which are used to enhance personal well-being generally and for cultural purposes, on the one hand, and medicines used to treat physical conditions only, on the other. Drawing on an eight-month study of Xhosa chemists in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1996, the paper identifies 90 medicines in stock which are used to enhance personal well-being. Just under one-third of all purchases were of medicines to enhance well-being. Remedies particularly popular included medicines believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The protection of infants with medicines which repel evil spirits is a common practice. Consumer behaviours indicate that the range of medicines available is increased by indigenisation of manufactured traditional medicines and cross-cultural borrowing. Case studies confirm that self- and infant medication with indigenous remedies augmented by indigenised medicines plays an important role in primary health care by allaying the fears and anxieties of everyday life within the Xhosa belief system, thereby promoting personal well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2002
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010679
- Description: An estimated 27 million South Africans use indigenous medicines (Mander, 1997, Medicinal plant marketing and strategies for sustaining the plant supply in the Bushbuckridge area and Mpumalanga Province. Institute for Natural Resources, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa). Although herbal remedies are freely available in amayeza stores, or Xhosa chemists, for self-medication, little is known about the motivations of consumers. According to African belief systems, good health is holistic and extends to the person's social environment. The paper makes a distinction between traditional medicines which are used to enhance personal well-being generally and for cultural purposes, on the one hand, and medicines used to treat physical conditions only, on the other. Drawing on an eight-month study of Xhosa chemists in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, in 1996, the paper identifies 90 medicines in stock which are used to enhance personal well-being. Just under one-third of all purchases were of medicines to enhance well-being. Remedies particularly popular included medicines believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The protection of infants with medicines which repel evil spirits is a common practice. Consumer behaviours indicate that the range of medicines available is increased by indigenisation of manufactured traditional medicines and cross-cultural borrowing. Case studies confirm that self- and infant medication with indigenous remedies augmented by indigenised medicines plays an important role in primary health care by allaying the fears and anxieties of everyday life within the Xhosa belief system, thereby promoting personal well-being.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
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