Local management strategies and attitudes towards selected threatened or protected plant species in Limpopo Province, South Africa

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

MARULA TRIUMPH RASETHE
MARTIN POTGIETER
MICHÈLE PFAB

Abstract

Abstract. Rasethe MT, Potgieter M, Pfab M. 2021. Local management strategies and attitudes towards selected threatened or protected plant species in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Biodiversitas 22: 3773-3784. Throughout South Africa, ordinary people are managing and using local natural resources in ways that enhance their lives, but there is a major concern about the sustainability of wild plant harvest. This study aims to investigate the current management strategies employed by local people in the Limpopo Province for selected threatened or protected plant species (TOPS). Semi-structured questionnaires were used to gather information from a total of 333 participants, i.e. 110 community members (CMs), 180 traditional health practitioners (THPs), and 28 traditional leaders (TLs), as well as from 15 conservation officers (COs). The study area included the districts of Capricorn, Sekhukhune, Mopani, Vhembe, and Waterberg. Results indicated that in all districts of the province most CMs and THPs reported that no one managed plant resources in their surrounding communal lands, though TLs indicated that the state was involved with management. Fifty-nine percent of THPs indicated that there are no traditional rules that are applied towards conservation of communal lands, yet 91% of other participants in the Mopani, Sekhukhune, and Capricorn districts indicated that traditional rules are followed. Most CMs in these three districts were allowed to participate in conservation initiatives, although most of them did not know that the plants they were using were threatened and protected in legislation. It is recommended that collaborative partnerships be initiated between government and TLs in relation to managing the threatened or protected plant species in communal lands.

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##

References
Bharucha Z, Pretty J. 2010. The roles and values of wild foods in agricultural systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 365: 2913–2926.
Bisht Y, Sharma RC. 2005. Traditional resource management practices for biodiversity conservation and their significance in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, India, Int J Biodivers Sci Ecosyst Serv Manag 1: 97-111, DOI: 10.1080/17451590509618084.
Boonzaaier C. 2009. Rural people’s perceptions regarding wildlife conservation-the case study of Masebe Nature Reserve in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. 3rd European Conference on African Studies. Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Pretoria, South Africa.
Clarke J (comp.). 1994. Building on Indigenous Natural Resource Management: Forestry Practices in Zimbabwe’s Communal Lands. Forestry Commission. Harare, Zimbabwe.
Constant NL, Tshisikhawe MP. 2018. Hierarchies of knowledge: ethnobotanical knowledge, practices and beliefs of the Vhavenda in South Africa for biodiversity conservation. J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomedicine 14: 56 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-018-0255-2.
Coopoosamy RM, Naidoo KK. 2012. An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by traditional healers in Durban, South Africa. Afr. J. Pharmacy Pharmacol. 6: 818–823.
Cunningham AB. 1998. Working towards a “TOP 50 Listing”. Med. Plant Cons. 2: 4–6.
Fabricius C, Koch E. 2004. Rights, Resources and Rural Development: Community-based Natural Resource Management in Southern Africa. Earthscan, London, UK.
Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). 2016. Effect of human activity on biodiversity. http://www.fao.org/agriculture/crops/core-themes/theme/spi/soil-biodiversity/effect-of-human-activity-on-biodiversity/en/Accessed on 21.04.2021.
Jordan SA, Cunningham DG, Marles RJ. 2010. Assessment of herbal medicinal products: Challenges and opportunities to increase the knowledge base for a safety assessment. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 243: 198–216.
Koduru S, Grierson DS, Afloyan AJ. 2007. Ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants used for treatment of cancer in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Curr. Sci. 92: 906–908.
Loundou P?M. 2008. Medicinal plant trade and opportunities for sustainable management in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. MSc. Dissertation, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch.
Mahop MT. 2004. Addressing the concerns of rural communities about access to plants and knowledge in a sui generis legislation in Cameroon. J. Biosci. 29: 431–444.
Maroyi A. 2008. Ethnobotanical study of two threatened medicinal plants in Zimbabwe. Int J Biodivers Sci Manag. 4: 148–153.
McCullum H (ed). 2000. Biodiversity of Indigenous Forests and Woodlands in Southern Africa. Southern African Development Community (SADC): The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Southern African Research and Documentation (SARDC) Report. Maseru, Lesotho.
Mintsa Mi Nzu AP. 2009. Use and conservation status of medicinal plants in the Cape Peninsula, Western Cape Province of South Africa. M.Sc. Dissertation, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch.
Moeng ET, Potgieter MJ. 2011. The trade of medicinal plants by muthi shops and street vendors in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. J. Med. Plant Res. 5: 588–564.
Mucina L, Rutherford MC. 2006. The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelizia 19, South African National Biodiversity Institute Pretoria, 807 pp.
Mungoni T. 2003. A comparative analysis of the abundance and growth conditions of Brackenridgea zanguebarica (Mutavhatsindi) inside and outside the Brackenridgea nature reserve in Thengwe, Limpopo Province. Honours. Mini-dissertation. University of Venda, Thohoyandou.
Ndawonde BG. 2006. Medicinal Plant Sales: A case study in Northern Zululand. MSc. Dissertation. University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal.
Rankoana SA. 2016. Sustainable Use and Management of Indigenous Plant Resources: A Case of Mantheding Community in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Sustainability 8: 221; doi:10.3390/su8030221.
Rasethe MT, Semenya SS, Potgieter MJ, Maroyi A. 2013. The utilization and management of plant resources in rural areas of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. J. Ethnobiol. Ethnomedicine 9: 27 doi:10.1186/1746-4269-9-27.