Valuing Environmental Infrastructure and the Myth of Natural Resource Management

Kreike, Emmanuel

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139026123.006

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It therefore indicates a major property contributing to fertility. The proportion of < 20 µm fraction content in soils was increased through homestead shifting (clay-brick remains) or mining of riverbeds (Kreike, 2013). Sand content (> 63 µm) can be used to estimate the proportion of < 20 µm fraction given the good correlation between the proportion of these two classes (p-value < 0.01, R 2 = 0.98).…”

Section: Important Characteristics For Field Soil Quality Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local soil quality assessment of north-central Namibia: integrating farmers' and technical knowledge

Prudat

Bloemertz

Kuhn

2018

SOIL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Soil degradation is a major threat for farmers of semi-arid north-central Namibia. Soil conservation practices can be promoted by the development of soil quality (SQ) evaluation toolboxes that provide ways to evaluate soil degradation. However, such toolboxes must be adapted to local conditions to reach farmers. Based on qualitative (interviews and soil descriptions) and quantitative (laboratory analyses) data, we developed a set of SQ indicators relevant for our study area that integrates farmers' field experiences (FFEs) and technical knowledge. We suggest using participatory mapping to delineate soil units (Oshikwanyama soil units, KwSUs) based on FFEs, which highlight mostly soil properties that integrate long-term productivity and soil hydrological characteristics (i.e. internal SQ). The actual SQ evaluation of a location depends on the KwSU described and is thereafter assessed by field soil texture (i.e. chemical fertility potential) and by soil colour shade (i.e. SOC status). This three-level information aims to reveal SQ improvement potential by comparing, for any location, (a) estimated clay content against median clay content (specific to KwSU) and (b) soil organic status against calculated optimal values (depends on clay content). The combination of farmers' and technical assessment cumulates advantages of both systems of knowledge, namely the integrated long-term knowledge of the farmers and a short-and medium-term SQ status assessment. The toolbox is a suggestion for evaluating SQ and aims to help farmers, rural development planners and researchers from all fields of studies understanding SQ issues in north-central Namibia. This suggested SQ toolbox is adapted to a restricted area of north-central Namibia, but similar tools could be developed in most areas where small-scale agriculture prevails.

show abstract

Section: Important Characteristics For Field Soil Quality Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local soil quality assessment of north-central Namibia: integrating farmers' and technical knowledge

Prudat

Bloemertz

Kuhn

2018

SOIL

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Bollig’s study is especially interesting as it covers the Kaoko region in its entirety rather than focusing on a single Protected Area (PA), as is typically the case in much of the above literature. In this, he adds to a recent trend in Namibian environmental regional histories, most notably Lenggenhager ( 2018 ) for the Caprivi/Zambesi and Kreike ( 2013 ) for the former Owamboland. Shaping the African Savannah is a well-researched and detailed account of the recent history and ecology of the Kaoko region and is essential reading for those both within the academic and non-academic scene (e.g., NGOs) interested in conservation, environmental history, colonialism, common management of resources and new frontiers of investment in African drylands.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Beginning with the pre-history of the region and finishing just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Bollig’s historical overview illustrates an ever-changing landscape that challenges the allegedly primitive or “natural” state of its environment. Following calls by Hodder ( 2014 ) to avoid the duality of human/nature inferences and using the concept of “environmental infrastructure” developed by Kreike ( 2013 ), he presents a masterful narrative integrating both biophysical or “natural” processes and human interventions that shape the Kaoko landscape. For example, he highlights the role of elephants in the history of the region, not only as sources of ivory for international trade, but also as shapers of the landscape and influencing patterns of human settlement and economic activities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Michael Bollig, Shaping the African Savannah. From Capitalist Frontier to Arid Eden in Namibia

Gargallo

2021

Hum Ecol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“… 3 Kreike (2013: 22) gives a definition of ‘environmental infrastructure’. He defines the concept as comprising ‘human and non-human agency to shape or reshape the environment, from mental abstraction to physical execution’ and asserts that, ‘whereas “infrastructure” is commonly held to support human society or enterprise, environmental infrastructure may serve human and nonhuman individuals, communities, activities, forces, and processes’.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The making of a conservation landscape: the emergence of a conservationist environmental infrastructure along the Kwando River in Namibia's Zambezi region

Bollig¹,

Vehrs²

2021

Africa

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Kwando Basin of north-eastern Namibia is firmly embedded in current national and international conservation agendas. It is a key part of the world's largest transboundary conservation area, the Kavango–Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, and the home of seven community-based conservation areas (conservancies) and three smaller national parks (Mudumu, Nkasa Rupara and Bwabwata). While conservation agendas often start from the assumption that an authentic part of African nature is conserved as an assemblage of biota that has not been gravely impacted by subsistence agriculture, colonialism and global value chains, we show that environmental infrastructure along the Namibian side of the Kwando Valley has been shaped by the impact of administrative measures and the gradual decoupling of humans and wildlife in a vast wetland. The way towards today's conservation landscape was marked and marred by the enforced reordering of human–environment relations; clearing the riverine core wetlands of human habitation and concentrating communities in narrowly defined settlement zones; the suppression of specific, wetland-adapted subsistence practices; and the elimination of unwanted microbes with the help of insecticides. The interventions in the ecosystem and the construction of an environmental infrastructure have created a unique conservation landscape in the Namibian Zambezi region, which provides the foundation for its popularity and success.

show abstract

Valuing Environmental Infrastructure and the Myth of Natural Resource Management

Cited by 5 publications

References 1 publication

Local soil quality assessment of north-central Namibia: integrating farmers' and technical knowledge

Local soil quality assessment of north-central Namibia: integrating farmers' and technical knowledge

Michael Bollig, Shaping the African Savannah. From Capitalist Frontier to Arid Eden in Namibia

The making of a conservation landscape: the emergence of a conservationist environmental infrastructure along the Kwando River in Namibia's Zambezi region

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About