A Critical Review of Environmental Conservation in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The discourse on “environmental conservation” is highly dynamic and has generated controversies of epic proportions in conservation sciences and environmental anthropology. Given the nebulous nature of conservation, coupled with the varying interpretations evoked by the deployment of the concept across different disciplines, a more robust understanding of the notion calls into question its practical manifestations and application in particular situated contexts – particularly within the conservation sciences and environmental anthropology. In Zimbabwe, conservation by the state has tended to favour and privilege Western scientific models at the expense of the “indigenous” conservation practices of local people, as informed by their indigenous epistemologies. This paper thus represents an attempt to rethink conservation in Zimbabwe, adopting the Norumedzo communal area in south-eastern Zimbabwe as its case study. The choice of Norumedzo is based on the fact that this is one area where the highly esteemed and delicious harurwa (edible stink bugs, Encosternum delegorguei) are found. As a result of these insects being valued as “actors” and the appreciation shown to both Western and indigenous epistemologies, conservation in the area has enjoyed considerable success. To this end, this paper lends support to the arguments of Walter Mignolo and Ramon Grosfoguel in their advocacy for critical border thinking in issues of knowledge regarding environmental conservation.

Technology, ideology and environment. The social dynamics of iron metallurgy in Great Zimbabwe, AD 900 to the present

“…The numerous myths, taboos and legends associated with current vegetation resource management strategies of such sacred groves as Norumedzo in Bikita near Great Zimbabwe provides an ethnographic reality crucial for understanding situations in the deep past (e.g. Mawere, 2013Mawere, , 2012. There is need for a more detailed research focusing on the environmental history of such local areas as Great Zimbabwe to augment the picture derived from regional studies highlighted above, as another way of unlocking its past (see Pikirayi in press).…”

Traditional Authority in Community Based Natural Resource Management(CBNRM): A Critical Investigation of the Role of Traditional Authority in Fisheries Management in Gache Gache Communal Lands of Kariba, Zimbabwe

“…This vignette was echoed by many others during the interviews and focus group discussions. In literature, there are also many other scholars who support the same line of thought [1,6,27]. As for Marongwe, the fortune of CBNRM lies in the ability of rural communities to enforce taboos, norms and values governing natural resource management in rural communities [1].…”

Enlightenment, Critical Theory, and the Role of Business Schools in the Anthropocene

“…However, calling upon a 'developed' country, which used the majority of global resources to gain that status, for such actions is different from calling upon an 'underdeveloped' country, which is still struggling with social issues such as poverty and hunger because their resources have been exploited by other countries. Ironically, most environmental conservation ideas are imported from modern Western countries, when focus should be on using indigenous solutions (Mawere, 2013). It is the role of critical researchers to highlight such issues (Banerjee & Arjaliès, 2021).…”

“…It is the role of critical researchers to highlight such issues (Banerjee & Arjaliès, 2021). Mawere (2013) gives an example of how the quest for domination persists in the pursuit of environmental conservation. He studied a case of conservation of insects in Zimbabwe.…”