This dissertation enhancement grant supports a US graduate student, Ms. Barbara Williams, working under the guidance of Professor Wesley Burnett, with the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at Clemson University, to conduct field research in South Africa on "Demand for Primary Products from a Designated Conservation Area: The Case of Dwesa and Cwebe Nature Reserves." These reserves contain some of the Wild Coast's (formerly Transkei) largest intact indigenous coastal forest, as well as an area of coastal landforms. In addition to being state forest reserves, they also serve as provincial nature and marine reserves, and contain a high degree of biodiversity. In the past, rural communities bordering protected areas have often been denied access to resources essential to their livelihood. Some African countries, including South Africa, are beginning to reorient their programs towards serving more of the interests of local communities, but little is known about the traditions and methods the villagers employ to identify, extract, and use primary resources from the protected areas. Ms. Williams will conduct a case study in a representative community to gather indigenous knowledge-both historic and contemporary- from the local villagers and park officials about resource utilization in the nature reserves. Her field research will identify the plants and products traditionally used by the villagers, the extraction methods used, and their traditional mechanisms for allocation and conservation of these resources. She will then analyze this information to determine what impact these traditions presently have on everyday village life, and whether these traditions are being passed on to the next generation. Archival research, participant observation, and in-depth interviews will be used to develop a model to deal with multiple land use. Staff members from Department of Geography at Rhodes University will collaborate with Ms. Williams on this project.
The results of this study will provide new information on resource management of protected areas, which will be a valuable resource for resource managers and policy makers. In addition, the results should be of interest to researchers in disciplines such as geography, ecology, and rural sociology. This project will also support an international research experience very early in the career of an outstanding graduate student.
