Concerns regarding the conservation of medicinal plant species are receiving much attention due to overharvesting
and exploitation. Medicinal plant harvesting is a global concern as plants are the source of the majority
of medicines, either traditional or western, in the world. Millions of U.S. dollars of plant material are being
Sangomas or inyangas are shamans, healers,
priests, and prophets that have been
the backbone of Bantu communities, especially
in the rural areas of Southern Africa
for eons. However, with rapid Westernization
and the increasing allure of the
commodity market, the old ways are rapidly
eroding. Indigenous knowledge has
The article’s focus is the relationship between culture, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), sustainable development and education in Africa. It analyzes the concept of sustainability with particular reference to education and indigenous knowledge systems.
Ethnopharmacologicalrelevance: Most exoticplantsareusuallylabelledasalieninvasivesandtargeted
for eradication.However,someoftheseexoticplantsplayanimportantroleinthetraditionalprimary
healthcaresectoroftheBapedicultureintheLimpopoProvinceofSouthAfrica.Themedicinalusesof
mostofthesespecieshaveneitherbeendocumentednortheirbiologicalactivityevaluated.
This study analyses empirical data on the direct damage impact of lake floods using insurance claims for 195 private buildings. A relationship between lake water levels and insurance payments is established, but the estimated economic effects are small.
This paper explores the relationship between vulnerability and resilience in the context of informal settlements, using a case study of two barangays in a rural province in the Philippines. Central to the discussion in this paper is whether and how vulnerability and resilience can exist simultaneously.
This article describes the multicriteria Monitoring and Alert System designed to allow safe access to Santos Morcillo Lake (located in Ruidera Lakes Natural Park, Central Spain). In the spring of 2007, two families of cracks were observed on both banks of the lake, located near the barrage separating it from the downstream Batana Lake. A sinkhole was also detected.
Smallholder farmers continuously confront multiple social and environmental stressors that necessitate changes in livelihood strategies to prevent damages and take advantage of new opportunities, or adaptation.
Farmers’ local knowledge of soil fertility and management strategies plays a significant role in fertility maintenance of farmlands and also contributes to the participatory development of interventions to sustain farm productivity.
Ethnopedology, a hybrid discipline nurtured by natural as well as social sciences, encompasses the soil and land knowledge systems of rural populations, from the most traditional to the modern. Using this statement as a starting point, the first part of the paper defines ethnopedology in terms of conceptual scope, methodological approaches and dominant research themes.