Ethics, values and legality in the restoration of cultural artefacts: the case of South Africa

Snowball, Jen; Collins, Alan; Nwauche, Enyinna S.

doi:10.1080/10286632.2021.1995377

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Comprehensive restoration demands a multifaceted approach that takes historical, social, cultural, political, esthetic, and moral considerations into account [ 8 ]. Restoring biodiversity and functionality needs local community support, correct policies, appropriate legislation, long-term funding, and scientific and technological expertise [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge into habitat restoration: implications for meeting forest restoration challenges

Haq

Pieroni

Bussmann

et al. 2023

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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Background Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) helps tribal communities adapt to socio-ecological changes, improving the long-term sustainability of their livelihood strategies and fostering social–ecological resilience. TEK provides thorough understanding of ecosystem dynamics, as well as how they relate to societal norms, practices, and resource use patterns. The integrity of TEK is often in jeopardy due to changes in belief systems, regional languages, traditional ways of subsistence, and disruption of traditional social–ecological systems. Landscape restoration has the ability to promote self-determination while safeguarding the livelihoods, beliefs, cultural, and biodiversity of indigenous peoples. However, there is a substantial knowledge gap on how TEK might aid ecosystem restoration, particularly in elephant corridors. Methods The current study focused on gathering traditional ecological knowledge on the woody tree species from the Dering-Dibru Saikhowa Elephant Corridor using semi-structured interviews, group discussions, and direct observations. The acquired data were applied to heat map cluster analysis and ordination techniques using R software version 4.0.0. Results Traditional usage information of 31 tree species utilized for food, fodder, timber, fuelwood, medicinal, and livelihood by local people was gathered. Most of the species utilized locally belonged to the families Combretaceae and Fabaceae. The species were classified into single, double, or multi-uses based on the extent of utilization. Azadirachta indica, Phyllanthus emblica, and Syzygium cumini (six each) had the highest utilization, while Mesua ferrea had the lowest. Chionanthus ramiflorus, Artocarpus heterophyllus, and Dillenia indica were among the plants valuable to wildlife, providing both forage and habitat for a wide variety of birds and animals. Artocarpus heterophyllus, Averrhoa carambola, Mangifera indica, P. emblica, Psidium guajava, and S. cumini were among the plants important for the livelihoods of the local community. Our findings demonstrated that local people were knowledgeable about the plant species to use as pioneer species, such as Bombax ceiba, Albizia lebbeck, D. indica, S. cumini, P. emblica, Lagerstroemia speciosa, and Alstonia scholaris, for habitat restoration in a diverse habitat. We classified the habitat of the enlisted species into different categories, and two clusters (clusters 1 and 2) were identified based on the similarity of woody species in different habitats. We prioritized multiple tree species for eco-restoration using the information collected through TEK. We planted 95,582 saplings on 150 hectares in the Dering-Dibru Saikhowa Elephant Corridors’ degraded habitat patches, which will serve as future reference site for landscape rehabilitation. Out of total saplings planted, 56% of the species were linked to native communities through ethnobotanical uses, as well as providing connectivity and habitat for elephant movement, 16% of all woody species are pioneer species to colonize a degraded habitat, 15% of all woody species are preferred food and foraging by wildlife, and 13% of the species as a source of livelihood for local people, incorporating social, economic, cultural, and biodiversity benefits into the restoration framework. Conclusion The current study also provides insights how the TEK can assist with aspects of ecological restoration, from reference ecosystem reconstruction and adaptive management through species selection for restoration, monitoring, and evaluation of restoration effectiveness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge into habitat restoration: implications for meeting forest restoration challenges

Haq

Pieroni

Bussmann

et al. 2023

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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“…More commonly, but perhaps with less media attention, smaller or less known museums and collections, including private collections, are being questioned regarding the legal or ethical circumstances in which objects were obtained, even if the collections are decades old [2,[12][13][14]. Whether objects were obtained legally or not, ethical guidelines are shifting such that museums and object collections are increasingly expected to have obtained their objects in ways that do not reflect inequality and subjugation of native populations [15,16]. Even if objects were obtained in a manner that was deemed ethical, object care is an essential part of continued ethical management of collections, requiring monitoring and updates on cultural objects' status [17].…”

Section: Need For Object Trackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salsal: blockchain for vetting cultural object collections

Khelifi,

Altaweel,

Hashir

et al. 2024

Herit Sci

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Many modern cultural object collections suffer from the problem of being obtained in unethical and illegal circumstances. Additionally, information about collections, including their status, object descriptions, and other data need up-to-date information presented to users. We propose a novel blockchain tool called Salsal that enables the vetting of objects, individually or as part of more extensive collections, to meet required ethical and legal guidelines while informing users about relevant information regarding collections. Blockchain provides a better and more rapid way for users to know about collections using a decentralized and immutable ledger technology. Blockchain can be used to incentivize or even pressure collections to vet their objects for ethical and legal guidelines that can benefit the public who use object collections. The prototype software we have made is presented and compared to other blockchains, with code and demonstration provided. We present how our blockchain can enable benefit, providing a useful vetting process for cultural objects, and allowing a user community to contribute to collections in a transparent and secure manner.

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“…More commonly, but perhaps with less media attention, smaller or less known museums and collections, including private collections, are being questioned regarding the legal or ethical circumstances in which their objects were obtained, even if the collections are decades old [2,[12][13][14]. Whether objects were obtained legally or not, ethical guidelines have and are shifting such that museums and object collections are increasingly expected to have obtained their objects in ways that do not reflect inequality and subjugation of native populations [15,16]. Even if objects were obtained in a manner that was deemed ethical, object care is also essential as part of continued ethical management of collections, requiring monitoring and updates on cultural objects' status [17].…”

Section: Need For Object Trackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salsal: Blockchain for Vetting Cultural Object Collections

Khelifi,

Altaweel,

Hashir

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Many modern cultural object collections suffer from the problem of being obtained in unethical and illegal circumstances. Additionally, information about collections, including their status, object descriptions, and other data need up-to-date information presented to users. We propose a novel blockchain tool called Salsal that enables the vetting of objects, individually or as part of more extensive collections, to meet required ethical and legal guidelines while informing users of relevant information about collections. Blockchain provides a better and more rapid way for users to know about collections using a decentralized and immutable ledger technology. We also believe that they can be used to incentivize or even pressure collections to vet their objects for ethical and legal guidelines that can benefit the public who use collections. The prototype software we have made is presented and compared to other blockchains, with code provided. We demonstrate how our blockchain can enable a useful vetting process for cultural objects, allowing a user community to contribute to this process in a transparent and secure manner.

show abstract

Ethics, values and legality in the restoration of cultural artefacts: the case of South Africa

Cited by 5 publications

References 19 publications

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge into habitat restoration: implications for meeting forest restoration challenges

Integrating traditional ecological knowledge into habitat restoration: implications for meeting forest restoration challenges

Salsal: blockchain for vetting cultural object collections

Salsal: Blockchain for Vetting Cultural Object Collections

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