Combining Bio-Cultural and Asset Based Approach Towards Sustainable Utilization of Catchment Resources

Abstract

Water security is one of the key sustainability challenges in this modern era regardless of the level of development. While the problem keep on increasing year after year, man is a dominant player over hydrological system and also possesses powerful ways and means of utilizing hydrological resources and responds to hydrological dynamics in different ways. The utilization of hydrological resources is influenced by natural resources which are available in the aquatic system, communities' culture and assets. These three main factors can be divided into two groups, namely, bio-cultural and community/ anthropogenic asset. Bio-cultural asset helps to understand ways in which man interacts with hydrological systems, which behavior (s) can lead to transformations of hydrological functions, and how man reacts to these changes. While, community assets help to understand how the communities can sustainably manage themselves by identifying and mobilizing the existing, but often unrecognized assets, and thereby respond to and create local opportunities for themselves instead of depending on resources from outside. In most cases, the bio-cultural and Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approaches have been used separately to study the involvement of people and their behavior towards water resource management. It is expected that integrating of these two approaches can be useful in understanding the links between hydrology and local systems; at the same time understanding how a community can restore and be resilient to the changes that occur to the aquatic ecosystems from a cultural, social, economic, political, and biological perspectives. The combination of bio-cultural and ABCD approaches can also, be a better strategy for identifying the parameters and functional relationships which can be used in sociohydrological model simulation.

Identifying potential stakeholders for the management of Lower Mgeta and Upper Zigi water catchments of Tanzania, East Africa

“…PRA techniques used are participatory bio‐physical resource mapping (PBRM) as well as participatory community asset mapping (PCAM). PBRM technique is carried out by communities to map their territories and indicate which places and which resources are used, and for which purposes (Kapinga, 2020). These maps demonstrate the scope of indigenous territories and illustrate the significance and importance of the territories and associated resources for the lives of indigenous and local communities.…”

“…For enhancement of collaborative discussion during the process, facilitation was done by the researchers at minimum level with discussion amongst participants being allowed to reach a natural conclusion. PBRM empowers communities to articulate their knowledge of the surrounding physical environment (Kapinga, 2020).…”

“…The adoption of the River Management ‐ Basin Management approach did not produce the expected results. This is because catchment areas were managed by the regional administrations under the local government authorities, while the river bodies and their catchments extended beyond administrative boundaries (Kapinga, 2020). The current Tanzanian Water Policy of 2002 and National Water Resource Management Act of 2009 emphasize on the River Basin Authorities for the management of catchment areas.…”