Expert and Generalist Local Knowledge about Land-cover Change on South Africa’s Wild

Coast: Can Local Ecological Knowledge Add Value to Science?

Author(s): Nigel Chalmers and Christo Fabricius
Source: Ecology and Society , Jun 2007, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Jun 2007)
Published by: Resilience Alliance Inc.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26267835

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Copyright © 2007 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance.
Chalmers, N., and C. Fabricius. 2007. Expert and generalist local knowledge about land-cover change on
South Africa’s Wild Coast: can local ecological knowledge add value to science? Ecology and Society 12
(1): 10. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art10/

Research
Expert and Generalist Local Knowledge about Land-cover Change on
South Africa’s Wild Coast: Can Local Ecological Knowledge Add Value to
Science?

Nigel Chalmers 1 and Christo Fabricius 1

ABSTRACT. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) can shed light on ecosystem change, especially in under-
researched areas such as South Africa’s Wild Coast. However, for ecosystem planning purposes, it is
necessary to assess the accuracy and validity of LEK, and determine where such knowledge is situated in
a community, and how evenly it is spread. Furthermore, it is relevant to ask: does LEK add value to science,
and how do science and local knowledge complement one another? We assessed change in woodland and
forest cover in the Nqabara Administrative Area on South Africa’s Wild Coast between 1974 and 2001.
The inhabitants of Nqabara are “traditional” Xhosa-speaking people who are highly dependent on natural
resources for their livelihoods. More recently, however, infrastructural development has influenced
traditional lifestyles at Nqabara, although poverty remains high and formal education levels low. We
assessed LEK about changes in woodland and forest cover over the past 30 years by interviewing 11 local
“experts,” who were recognized as such by the Nqabara community, and 40 senior members of randomly
selected households in each village. We also analyzed land-cover change, using orthorectified aerial photos
taken in 1974 and 2001. Forest and woodland cover had increased by 49% between 1974 and 2001. The
11 “experts” had a nuanced understanding of these changes and their causes. Their understanding was not
only remarkably consistent with that of scientists, but it added considerable value to scientific understanding
of the ultimate causes of land-cover change in the area. The experts listed combinations of several causal
factors, operating at different spatial and temporal scales. The 40 randomly selected respondents also knew
that forest and woodland cover had increased, but their understanding of the causes, and the role of fire in
particular, was somewhat simplistic. They could identify only three causal factors and generally listed
single factors rather than the combinations of factors listed by the experts. In some instances, their
understanding even appeared to be seriously flawed. In contemporary Xhosa society, ecological knowledge
is unevenly spread and held by individuals rather than by groups. Therefore, it is important to work with
experts rather than randomly selected individuals in ecological studies that incorporate local knowledge.
Expert local knowledge adds value to science by providing detailed insights into the ultimate causes of
change, and by contributing a rare historical perspective. Scientists add value to local knowledge through
their ability to study and predict obscure processes such as the impact of atmospheric change on vegetation.
Scientists must, however, acknowledge that positivist studies that compare local knowledge to science are
fraught with ethical and methodological challenges. Certain aspects of local knowledge, particularly in
terms of fire, are sacred and do not have the same origins as Western science. Local knowledge and science
can complement one another, but we advise against integrating them in a way that co-opts local knowledge
for scientific purposes.

Key Words: cultivation; fire; GIS; land-cover change; landscape ecology; local ecological knowledge;
politics; scientific knowledge; vegetation

1
Rhodes University, South Africa

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 Ecology and Society 12(1): 10
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INTRODUCTION as LEK is often only locally relevant (Gadgil et al.

2003). Therefore, local inhabitants often have a
Local ecological knowledge (LEK) has recently weaker understanding of processes taking place at
received increasing academic and policy attention coarser spatial and temporal scales that are not
in biodiversity conservation, ecosystem assessments, obvious to them. Faster variables may be easier to
and ecosystem management (Heyd 1995, identify and observe than slower variables. Local
Huntingdon 2000, Gadgil et al. 2003, Alexander et inhabitants are, therefore, able to adapt to them and
al. 2004, Fabricius et al. 2006). It is particularly adjust their knowledge accordingly. However,
valuable in cases where people’s livelihoods are people often have a limited capacity to integrate
closely linked to ecosystem services, particularly in slower variables into their understanding of
remote rural areas, such as South Africa’s Wild ecosystems as such variables are more difficult to
Coast, where extensive scientific studies have not track (Berkes and Jolly 2001).
been conducted (Reyers and Ginsburg 2005). In
such areas, formal scientific studies can be time Local ecological knowledge contrasts with formal,
consuming and expensive, and often require scientific knowledge, which is the conventional
capacity that does not exist (Moller et al. 2004). source of information for formalized ecosystem
However, with the use of LEK it is possible to gain management. Scientific knowledge is passed
insights into ecosystem processes and services, and through a strict and agreed upon set of universally
to use these to improve ecosystem management accepted rules, which qualifies it for a particular use
(Huntingdon 2000). Some scholars have, however, (Fabricius et al. 2006). It is precise and easily
been sceptical about the scientific validity of LEK measured in an objective and repeatable manner
and its usefulness beyond just the local level, (Moller et al. 2004). Many scientists are thus
whereas others (e.g., Mauro and Hardison 2000, sceptical of the validity of informal knowledge in
Hardison 2005) have been concerned about the general, because of its perceived subjectivity and
ethics of exploiting LEK for academic or policy lack of rigor (Nadasny 1999, Gadgil et al. 2003).
purposes. Many ecosystem managers without formal
scientific training, on the other hand, are sceptical
Local ecological knowledge offers advantages of science because often they do not understand it,
because it takes a fine-grained, context-specific or because it has on some occasions been used
perspective (Berkes and Folke 2002), which adds politically to mask realities or manipulate the truth
value to coarse-scale conservation plans (e.g., (Nadasny 1999, Fabricius et al. 2006).
Reyers and Ginsburg 2005) or assessments (e.g.,
Scholes and Biggs 2004). Local knowledge, based It is necessary to bring local and scientific
on peoples’ direct interactions with their knowledge together to improve everyone’s
environment, is accumulated on a trial-and-error understanding of ecosystem services and processes,
basis through learning from feedback and and to promote mutual respect between the holders
interaction (Berkes et al. 2003). Such knowledge of such knowledge (Nadasny 1999). Combining
includes cultural, social, and political knowledge LEK with science is, however, fraught with ethical,
held by groups rather than by individuals (Oudwater methodological, and conceptual difficulties, and
and Martin 2003). Institutions, defined as “set(s) of merging them does not address the problem.
formal and informal rules and norms that shape the Scholars such as Nadasny (1999), Gadgil et al.
interactions of humans with others and nature,” that (2003) and Cundill et al. (2005) believe that, rather
“store,” add value to, and share this knowledge than integrating different forms of knowledge, the
within a community are therefore critical (Agrawal gap between them should be bridged so that they
and Gibson 1999). Institutions are thus important can complement and benefit each other.
drivers of landscape pattern (Bebbington and
Perreault 1999) because of their direct and indirect Knowledge is furthermore unevenly spread within
influence on ecosystem management practices any group, and local communities are no exception.
(Agrawal and Gibson 1999). Not everyone has a holistic understanding of the
environment, and in rural communities, different
Local ecological knowledge is of course not groups and individuals use landscapes for different
infallible and does have certain limitations. Its fine- purposes (Kaschula et al. 2005). This leads to the
grained perspective, although adding value to development of local experts, i.e., individuals with
coarse-grained studies, can also be a disadvantage above-average knowledge of ecosystems. If

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knowledge about specific resources or processes is (PFM) committee, regarded as experts about change
required then it is important to select and work with in forest and woodland cover over the past 30 years.
such local experts rather than with arbitrarily We then gathered data on actual landscape change,
selected individuals (Donovan and Puri 2004). using aerial photos. Finally, we conducted
interviews with 40 randomly selected residents in
Most studies concerning LEK have focused the study area about the causes of landscape change.
primarily on species, their distribution, techniques
to harvest them, and their medicinal qualities (e.g., Our specific key questions were:
Trosper 2002, Lobe and Berkes 2004, Moller et al.
2004, Wang 2004, Kaschula et al. 2005). Few LEK ● How, according to local experts and
studies have focused on the “processes” that drive generalists, have the shapes and sizes of forest
change in ecosystems. An understanding of the and woodland patches changed over the past
proximate and ultimate drivers and feedbacks 30 years?
defining change in ecosystem goods and services is,
however, of key importance for ecosystem ● How does this understanding compare to
management (Millennium Assessment (MA) 2003). actual land-cover change between 1974 and
Therefore, this paper focuses on the knowledge of 2001?
driving processes rather than on that of species.
● What, according to local experts and
In this study, we documented LEK about changes generalists, caused these changes?
in ecosystem structure and landscape pattern on
South Africa’s Wild Coast. We compared LEK ● How does expert local knowledge compare
about the extent and causes of change in forest and to generalist local knowledge?
woodland land cover with scientists’ assessments
and published understanding of the same processes.
A better understanding of land-cover change is
particularly relevant on the Wild Coast, as land
transformation is believed to be a substantial threat STUDY AREA
to the area. According to a recent conservation
planning exercise (Reyers and Ginsburg 2005), 34% The Nqabara Administrative Area (AA) is located
of the Wild Coast, and 36% of the Transkei Coastal in the Willowvale district in Mbhashe municipality
Belt have been transformed. This has contributed to on South Africa’s Wild Coast, at 28.503587S,
the setting of quite ambitious conservation targets 32.267611 E. The area is bordered by the Nqabara
for these areas (Reyers and Ginsburg 2005). That River to the east and the Nqabarana River to the
study was, however, necessarily conducted at a west. This particular area was chosen for the study
coarse scale without any fine-grained analysis (B. because of the juxtaposition of forest and grassland,
Reyers, pers. comm). the prevalence of LEK resulting from people’s
strong dependence on and proximity to natural
In our study area, anthropogenic disturbance is a resources (Mafa Environment and Development cc
key determinant of landscape pattern and land-cover 2003), and the existence of a functioning local
change. Human-induced fire maintains grassland, organization (the PFM committee) to use as an entry
and its absence drives the transition from grassland point.
to woodland to forest (Kepe and Scoones 1999).
Cultivation and clearing also play a role in changing
land cover (Andrew and Fox 2004), as do human Biotic Features
movement (Fay 2003) and harvesting patterns
(Leach and Fairhead 2000). The area falls within a floristic region known as the
Tongaland-Pondoland Regional Mosaic (Palmer et
The objective of our research was to gain an al. 2000). The vegetation can best be described as a
understanding of the strengths and weakness of grassland–woodland–forest mosaic, with a clear
LEK in explaining ecosystem processes, focusing distinction between the boundaries of forests,
on human disturbance. We first interviewed a small woodland, and grassland because of the effects of
resident group of local resource users who members fire and clearing for cultivation (Fig. 1). The
of the local Participatory Forest Management grassland generally occurs on the high ridges

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 Ecology and Society 12(1): 10
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whereas the forest patches occur on the moist deeper Local Ecological Knowledge
soils in the protected valleys, with the woodland in
a transition zone between the forest and the The Nqabara AA is rich in LEK, although this
grassland (Mafa Environment and Development cc knowledge is not evenly spread. As with any
2003). Fire, grazing, soils, and micro-climate knowledge system, there are experts, generalists,
contribute to the mosaic landscape (Palmer et al. and uninformed individuals. The local experts have,
2000). for example, developed their own sophisticated
indigenous forest management plan with the help
Nqabara is located in a climatic transition zone of facilitators, and established a medicinal plant
between the temperate south coast and the nursery (Mafa Environment and Development cc
subtropical north coast of South Africa. The 2005). They have proven knowledge of medicinal
temperature is moderate with an average winter plant properties and cultivation (Keirungi and
maximum of 21.5° Celsius and 24°C in the summer Fabricius 2005). The community has elected a PFM
(Mafa Environment and Development cc 2003). committee, with representatives from each village,
The general climatic pattern is one of high to deal with governance and institutional issues.
temperatures and humidity broken by cooler spells They did, however, request the participation of
associated with the passage of cold fronts in formally trained scientists in the development of
summer, whereas the winter months are cool and their management plan and in the establishment of
dry and generally frost free. The average rainfall is the medicinal plant garden (Mafa Environment and
1069 mm yearly measured over 16 years (Palmer et Development cc 2005). This indicates that they
al. 2000). This relatively high rainfall encourages acknowledge the power of LEK when used in
grass growth, which makes dry biomass available conjunction with scientific knowledge.
for burning during the drier winter months. The
high, consistent rainfall also enables the rapid
growth of tree saplings, provided they are not METHODS
destroyed by fire or grazing.
Data collection consisted of four stages: 1) Semi-
structured interviews and transect walks with a
Socioeconomic Features sample of 11 recognized local experts who had in-
depth knowledge of ecosystems because their
The former Transkei was an area set up by the former livelihoods were closely linked to natural resources:
Government of South Africa under the Bantu Self- they spent much of their time in the wild, tending
Government Act of 1959 as a Homeland for the to livestock, and collecting building materials,
Xhosa Nation (Carter 1959), and is currently part honey, medicinal plants, and other wild resources.
of the Eastern Cape Province. The area is They were identified as experts by the local PFM
characterized by high unemployment, high levels committee, and were senior members of the
of poverty, and low education levels. According to community. The purpose of these interviews was to
a 2001 government census, 70% of the households obtain expert information on LEK about change in
of the Nqabara AA earned less than R 500 ($83 U. forest and woodland cover. 2) Semi-structured
S. in 2006) each month. The ratio of young people interviews were conducted with randomly selected
(under 40) to older people is decreasing (Statistics households to probe general local understanding of
S.A. 2001), possibly because of out-migration, land-cover change and its causes. 3) Aerial photos
although HIV/AIDS may also play a role. from 1974 and 2001 were analyzed to assess actual
land-cover change in forests and woodlands. 4) A
Because of low formal rates of employment, most desk-top study of scientific literature was conducted
residents rely on welfare grants, cultivation of crops, to obtain scientific knowledge on the causes of
and especially, natural resources, which are landscape change, particularly the effect of fire on
estimated (for the entire Wild Coast) to be worth R landscapes, in southern African woodlands and
300–400 ($50–65 U.S.) per hectare yearly for forests.
grassland, and R 2 000–R 12 000 ($333–2 000 U.
S.) per hectare yearly for forests (Le Roux and The questionnaires were designed with a mix of
Nahman 2005). open- and close-ended questions in order to get the
relevant information from the respondents, without
the use of leading or prompting questions. There

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Fig. 1. A typical patchwork landscape along the Nqabara river.

were three drafts of the questionnaire used by the woodland composition and cover over the
researchers to develop the ideal mix of questions. past 30 years, and the causes of such changes.
A month before the field work began, to ensure the
meaning was lost in translation, they were piloted, 2. Interviews with randomly selected residents
with the help of the translator in Nqabara AA, with —Forty households were randomly selected.
people who would not take part in the actual study. With the help of a trained translator, semi-
structured interviews (Martin 2004) were
administered with the most senior available
1. Interviews with local experts—Semi- member of each household. The Nqabara AA
structured interviews and transect walks were is made up of a number of small villages
conducted with the 11 forest experts. consisting of 15 to 25 homesteads. Each
Interviews with local experts were conducted village has sole access to one or more
during transect walks (Martin 2004) through indigenous forest patches for natural
forests. Discussions took place in isiXhosa resources, within walking distance of
and were translated into English with the help homesteads. Villagers had specific knowledge
of an interpreter. While on the walks, of nearby forest patches, compared with more
questions were asked and discussions general knowledge of more distant patches.
conducted about the changes in forest and Interviewees were asked to reflect on all the

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Nqabara forests, but invariably used the ones was extracted from the literature, in the form
they were most familiar with as benchmarks. of direct quotes or paraphrases, and then
When interviewing the generalist respondents, compared with direct excerpts from the semi-
a household was selected at random and the structured interviews with the Nqabara AA
oldest available member of the household was residents on LEK.
asked to take part in the interview. Most
interviewees (75%) were older than 45, and
only one interviewee was younger than 35.
All the interviewees had lived in Nqabara AA
their entire lives. The ratio of men to women RESULTS
was 65 to 35, because most households were
headed by men who identified themselves as Land-cover Change from 1974–2001
the most senior household members. The aim
of these interviews was to gain information The land cover of the forest and woodland patches
regarding the respondents’ understanding of increased from 1096 ha in 1974 to 1664 ha in 2001,
their natural surroundings, with a focus on the a 49% increase overall. The largest recorded
effect of human activities on forest and increase in forest and woodland cover was 133%
woodland cover. whereas the smallest increase was 2% (Table 1).
The mean increase in the size of forests and
Statistical analysis of interviews—The data woodlands was 37.6 ha ± 12.04 (SE), which was
obtained from the semi-structured questionnaires statistically significant (t = 3.21 d.f. = 13; p < 0.01).
was qualitative and, therefore, the Chi- This substantial increase in the size of forests can
squared test (Rosner 2000) for the be seen in the maps of forest and woodland patches
significance of relationships between in 1974 and 2001 (Fig. 2), and is contrary to
categorical data was used. conventional wisdom about trends in land cover
along the Wild Coast.
3. Spatial analysis—Two sets of orthorectified
aerial photographs, one from 1974 and
another from 2001, were acquired from the
South Africa Department of Land Affairs Expert Local Knowledge about Land-cover
(2004). Orthorectified images were essential Change
because the topographical variations of
Earth’s surface and the tilt of the aerial sensor The 11 local experts demonstrated a highly nuanced
affect the distance with which features on the understanding of the processes affecting changes in
image are displayed. Displacement can be forest size and interiors in the study area. All of them
hundreds of meters (Satellite Image knew that forest and woodland cover had increased
Corporation 2006), and therefore, it is since 1974, and they could also indicate which
essential to remove distortions. Vector data forests had increased the most. The local experts
layers were then created from these images identified six factors that affected forest size and
in the form of polygons, representing the density (Table 2). These were:
outlines of forest and woodlands in 1974 and
2001, respectively. Having digitized the 1. Increased occurence of exotic trees and
forests and woodlands, it was possible to shrubs that people do not harvest, as they are
calculate an area for each patch, enabling us seen as inferior in quality to indigenous
to assess changes in patch sizes between 1974 species.
and 2001. Spatial analysis was conducted
using the ArcView 3.2 GIS software program 2. Emigration by people leaving the area, and
(ESRI 2001, Korte 2001). relocation of homesteads within the area
itself.
4. Desktop study—A desktop study was
conducted to gain insight into formal 3. Reduced frequency of fire, which encourages
scientific beliefs and understanding concerning forest expansion around the edges because
the role of fire on landscape dynamics in saplings, especially Acacia karroo (known
forests and woodlands. Relevant information locally as Umnga), are able to take hold.

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Table 1. Changes in forest and woodland cover in 14 forest patches between 1974 and 2001, as measured
from orthorectified aerial photos. All forest patches are indigenous scarp forest (Reyers and Ginsburg
2005), and none have formal protection. The community has, however, submitted proposals and
management plans to government for a Nqabara Community Conservancy, which will include all forest
patches

Forest Name Area in Area in Change Change

2001 (ha) 1974 (ha) (ha) (%)

Ben Rabeni 20.51 15.23 5.27 35

Kwanocwane 78.76 56.19 22.57 40

Kwanonkongodo 121.64 119.52 2.11 2

Lubhelu 119.92 103.43 16.49 16

Ludada 55.96 38.72 17.24 45

Manyonyoba 147.76 110.61 37.14 34

Migqibisa 1 35.26 20.17 15.08 75

Migqubisa 2 63.96 49.38 14.58 30

Mpindwana 129.54 116.27 13.27 11

Ndimiti 97.95 42.03 55.91 133

Ngroboji 64.13 38.70 25.43 66

Ngwane 219.24 146.00 73.24 50

Nkelekete 305.77 132.27 173.50 131

Nqweleni 173.28 107.81 65.47 61

the reduced accessibility of forests by humans and

4. Reduced reliance on building materials from livestock because of the six factors mentioned
natural resources because of an increase in above.
employment and the widespread access to
social grants, enabling people to purchase All the experts believed that fire would have a
building materials from hardware suppliers. positive effect on grazing by curtailing forest
expansion, and by promoting the growth of green
5. Less cultivation and many abandoned fields. grass. They also believed that the absence of fire
would cause forests and woodland areas to expand.
6. Change in cultivation practices, from large All of them used fire from time to time for a variety
cultivated fields to smaller home gardens. of purposes, such as promoting livestock grazing,
preventing forests from expanding, clearing land for
cultivation, and controlling ticks. All the experts
Nine of the 11 experts (81%) noted that, apart from believed fire could be useful, and that it would only
the forest edges expanding, the interiors of forests be dangerous if used irresponsibly.
had also increased in density. They linked this to

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Fig. 2. Sizes of 14 forest patches at Nqabara in 1974 and 2001.

General Local Knowledge about Land-cover woody plants growing in the grassland, 62.5%
Change believed that the absence of fire would favor grass
and lead to the expansion of grasslands, and 72.5%
The 40 randomly selected respondents also knew believed that fire would have a negative effect on
that forest and woodland land cover had increased grazing, in contrast to the scientific belief that
since 1974. They identified three factors affecting frequent fires suppress woody plant growth (Bond
changes in the sizes of forests: changes in et al. 2003a), remove old growth, and stimulate
cultivation, identified by 75% of respondents; growth of green grass for grazing (O’Connor and
changes in grazing, identified by 25%; and changes BredenKamp 1997). Only one of the randomly
in fire frequency, identified by only one respondent. selected respondents stated that fire promoted
Seventy-five percent of them agreed that fire grazing. Almost 88% of the randomly selected
affected the edge of the forest, but only 10 respondents stated that fire was dangerous to both
respondents (25%) mentioned that fire affected natural and human environments, and that they
forest interiors. feared it. However, 67.5% of them sometimes
burned on purpose, mainly on a small scale to open
The randomly selected participants’ understanding land for cultivation.
of the effects of fire on grassland was somewhat
simplistic (Table 3). Although most of them
(67.5%) believed that fire affected numbers of

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Table 2. Local experts’ views (n = 11) on causal factors of forest change

Exotic tree species that people do not use:

Forest is large now because there are trees that didn’t grow here before.

Different types of trees now grow in the forest, which makes it denser.

Most of the trees that grow here were not here before and they destroy and out-compete the trees that are used by people.

New trees that are of no use to people are left and not cut down and so the forest became denser. These trees grew quickly
and so the forest changed rapidly. These trees are out-competing the trees the community uses.

New trees that people do not use, and so do not cut, increase the size of the forest. These trees destroy the important trees.

Forests grow because fire clears land, then forests take hold:

After a fire more plants and trees grow back, which adds to the size and density of forest.

Fire can open up areas and small trees can grow in summer rain and then become part of the forest.

Fire does not enter the forest, so does not affect it, but burns the edge and new trees grow normally, e.g., Umnga.

Plants on the edge of the forest are destroyed by fire but this fire does not stop the forest from growing.

In winter, there is fire that burns the forest. In summer, the trees grow back and grow bigger and denser. But don’t think
that fire affects the shape or size of the forest.

Forests grow because people abandon homesteads:

The village was on the edge of the forest in 1974, now in 2005 the whole area is covered by forest.

Forest followed the stream in the past. There were homes near the stream and cows used to graze. The homes have gone
and so have the cows.

Between 1971 and 1973, people moved to be on top of the hill and near the road, the area where they lived has now
become part of the forest.

From 1987–1988 people moved to Fubesi to be near the road and services and when they left the forest started to grow.

People were moved because of apartheid and their land was overrun by forest.

Forests grow because people stop cultivation:

Fields that were cultivated in 1974 have now been overrun by the forest.

Places where people used to cultivate are now forests and people have moved to another village to cultivate.

It is natural that the trees take over abandoned land.

The people stopped cultivating the land and the forest took over.

This place was used for farming and cultivation, but these people stopped and forest took over the land.

(con'd)

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Natural expansion:

Change is natural; the forest became bigger and took over the grassland.

People no longer cut so many trees for building materials:

People nowadays use more blocks and bricks for building rather than trees.

DISCUSSION and woodland to grassland (Scholes and Walker

1993, O’Connor and Bredenkamp 1997, Scholes
Landscape Change 1997), and understood that fire removes moribund
grass, leading to the renewal of grassland (Scholes
There has been a significant increase in the size of and Walker 1993, van Wilgen et al. 2003, van
forests in the Nqabara AA. This goes against Wilgen 2005). The experts also provided additional
conventional perceptions of trends in forests in insights, which were not found in the literature but
communal areas (von Maltitz and Shackleton 2004). which made much logical sense: for example, that
The expansion of forests is not a new phenomenon an increase in woodland cover eventually resulted
and has been shown to occur in West Africa by in forest interiors becoming denser than before, and
Fairhead and Leach (1998), who found that people’s that changes in cultivation practices could affect
land use and settlements had a major effect on the land cover.
distribution and expansion of forests. Tree density
increases with increasing CO2 levels, and Perhaps the greatest LEK contribution was their
corresponding fire suppression caused by reduced understanding of the ultimate drivers (sensu MA
fuel loads could explain current trends in woody 2003) of land-cover change. The local experts
plant encroachment in many parts of Africa (Bond confirmed that national policies and macroeconomic
et al. 2003b). factors changed rural resource use patterns. When
household incomes change due to remittances,
The reason for the change of the forests varied social grants, and job creation as a result of
among the respondents and no two respondents gave government policies, resource use changes from
the same combination of factors that resulted in the forest products to store-bought materials. This
change in size and density. The experts did, causes an increase in forest cover and density as
however, give combinations of factors as a cause of natural resource harvesting is reduced. Local
the change whereas the randomly selected experts also told us that the unavailability of child
household interviewees only gave one causal factor labor, because of government policies ordering
for change. compulsory school attendance for children under
15, meant that herd boys were no longer available
The local experts’ knowledge was remarkably to keep livestock out of unfenced fields. The most
consistent with scientists’ understanding of cost-effective alternative, rather than fencing the
landscape change in forest grassland mosaic fields, was to start cultivating smaller home gardens
ecosystems such as the Wild Coast. They that could be fenced or supervised (Andrew and Fox
understood that fire normally originated in 2004). This contributed to an increase in forest cover
grasslands and affected forest margins (Scholes because abandoned fields reverted to forests. The
1997, Trollope 1999, van Wilgen et al. 2003, van provision of piped water to villages (Statistics SA
Wilgen 2005) and that frequent fires tend to 2001), the result of macro policy factors, further
suppress woody plant growth, particularly of contributed to the shift toward home gardens, and
saplings in grassland (Versfeld and van Wilgen local experts alluded to this too.
1986, Solbrig et al. 1992, Trollope 1999, Bond et
al. 2003a, van Wilgen 2005). They also knew that The experts told us that the process of human
frequent fires can lead to the transformation of forest movement, stopping cultivation, lack of fire, and

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 Ecology and Society 12(1): 10
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Table 3. A comparison between the beliefs of local experts (n = 11) and local generalists (n = 40) about
the causes of land-cover change at Nqabara

Local experts (n = 11) Randomly selected Significance

respondents (n = 40)

Number Proportion Number Proportion

Forest sizes have increased 11 1.00 40 1.00 NS

over the past 30 years

Fire affects plant species on 11 1.00 30 0.75 *

forest margins

Fire affects plant species in 11 1.00 33 0.83 NS

grasslands

Forest interiors have changed 9 0.82 10 0.25 **

over the past 30 years

Forest size is affected by 5 0.45 30 0.75 *

cultivation

Forest size is affected by 5 0.45 0 0.00 **

shifting homesteads

Forest size is affected by fire 6 0.55 1 0.03 **

Forest size is affected by 7 0.64 0 0.00 **

useless, invasive plants

Forest size is naturally 4 0.36 0 0.00 **

expanding

Forest size is affected by 1 0.09 0 0.00 **

people’s use of building
materials

Fire reduces grazing 0 0.00 29 0.73 **

Fire improves grazing 11 1.00 1 .03 **

Absence of fire causes grass 0 0.00 25 0.63 **

to increase

NS not significant; * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01

forest expansion could all be linked. Under the homesteads, which were recolonized by forests. In
Betterment Programme in South Africa (Letsoalo more recent times, people have again moved, this
and Rogerson 1982), people were grouped together time to be to nearer to infrastructure such as roads,
in tribal communities that would make their clinics, telephone lines, and water pipelines. When
governing easier. Therefore, people were forced to people moved homesteads, they abandoned
relocate from scattered settlements into centralized cultivation and their fields and homesteads reverted
villages. This meant abandoning fields and their to forest (Andrew and Fox 2004). This also

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 Ecology and Society 12(1): 10
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influenced fire regimes, as people frequently used flaws. Scientists are able to quantify land-cover
fire to open up land for cultivation. change and can relate the ecological role of fire on
the Wild Coast to that in other areas. They can also
There were, however, major inconsistencies develop and test sophisticated models of the impact
between the randomly selected respondents’ of, for example, fire intensity on vegetation
understanding and that of local experts and composition (van Wilgen et al. 2003). Scientists are
scientists. The reasons for these inconsistencies are able to monitor variables that are difficult to detect
linked to the limitations of LEK and temporal through mere observation and relate them to
perception (Berkes and Jolly 2001), local “experts” landscape processes, e.g., atmospheric carbon to fire
vs. “generalists” (Kaschula et al. 2005), and spatial regimes (Bond et al. 2003a, b). However, scientists
perception (Fabricius et al. 2006). The 40 randomly are inept at modeling and understanding complex
selected respondents had a shallower knowledge of social–ecological systems and multi-scale feedbacks,
fire as an ecosystem process than the local experts and lack the data (and sometimes the insights) to
had. When the randomly selected participants were assess these complex interactions empirically.
questioned about landscape change, a relatively Local experts are able to intuitively assess and
slow process, the predominant response was that describe such complex and multi-scale processes,
fire suppression would mean “lots of grass would albeit qualitatively, and can provide a historical
grow.” The actual change that would take place, perspective based on intergenerational transfer of
however, is more likely to be a gradual increase in information.
woody biomass that would increase the forest size
(O’Connor Bredenkamp 1997, Scholes and Walker Nadasny (1999), Gadgil et al. (2003), and Kaschula
1993, Scholes 1997). Only the 11 experts et al. (2005) ask the question: can LEK and science
understood this slow process. be integrated? Where there have been efforts to
integrate the two, there has been a tendency to use
Our findings corroborate the notion that knowledge Western science norms to judge LEK (Heyd 1995),
is unevenly spread through a community and that, even though it has its own rules of rationality and
at least in modern rural societies, “local knowledge” origins that differ from those of formal science.
is held by individuals and not groups. In order to
gather useful local knowledge, therefore, it is Science and LEK have great potential to
imperative to identify and talk to the local experts complement one another to enhance our
(Berkes 1999), i.e., individuals within a community understanding of ecosystem processes, especially
who specialize in the use of a particular resource, in understudied regions such as Nqabara AA. This
such as traditional healers who collect medicinal study has shown that science and LEK can converge.
plants from the forest. Local experts should be It is important to bear in mind, however, that they
identified through discussions with the traditional are not identical and are developed in different ways.
authorities or local institutions, as they will know We are acutely aware that our study merely
who the specialist users are within the community “scratched the surface” of local knowledge about
(Verlinden and Dayot 2005). land-cover change and the role of fire, and that we
adopted a very “rational” and positivist approach.
The general inhabitants of Nqabara AA appear to Certain components of local knowledge and
have a better understanding of easily visible customs (particularly about fire) are sacred and do
processes (Moller et al. 2004) than of “hidden” not fall in the “rational” domain. Scientists should,
processes that are difficult to detect through casual therefore, be cautious and sensitive to differences
observation. This is demonstrated by their good in world views when attempting to bridge the gap
understanding of the increase in land cover, which between local knowledge and science.
can easily be benchmarked against fixed objects
such as roads or homesteads.
Responses to this article can be read online at:
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art10/responses/
CONCLUSION

Local experts and scientists had complementary

knowledge regarding land-cover change at
Nqabara, but all three types of knowledge also had

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 Ecology and Society 12(1): 10
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