Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The State of the Biosphere Reserve

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Raising the Dust

  • 102 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter Jones looks at how some of the imported concepts associated with development have impacted on local people’s practices and beliefs. She also looks at how these changes have left an imprint on the Mountain and the hearts and minds of the people. She looks at what concepts like biodiversity mean to local people and at what potential impacts mono-agricultural practices might have on the future of the region. Returning to the use of stakeholder language and the aims of local organisations, Jones questions some of the direct benefits of some of these activities, not just to the traditional healers who participated but to the local population more generally. Here, she considers the mining explorations, the loss of the forest and impacts of changing weather patterns.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    I followed this campaign in the media mainly by reading through articles in the newspapers provided at the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust offices.

  2. 2.

    See link to http://www.moringapowder.com/.

  3. 3.

    The signing of the Declaration on Environment and Development (United Nations 1992b) took place after the June 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro.

  4. 4.

    On returning to the field in 2017 I was informed that the Peace Corps volunteers and other foreign nationals had been redeployed from the research area due to what was being referred to as the “blood sucker” crises that had resulted in the murders of a number of people believed to be “vampires”. I was unable to ascertain exactly the meaning behind this situation, but believe it to have some political foundation (targeting outsiders) combined with a criminal element exploiting these sentiments for their own gain.

  5. 5.

    Information on Malawi’s World Food Program can be accessed at http://www1.wfp.org/countries/malawi.

  6. 6.

    Umzungu is a colloquial term for a white person. An informant explained that depending on the tone with which it is used it can have either a neutral or a derogatory meaning.

  7. 7.

    Many people, both inside and outside of Malawi spoke to me about “the jealousy problem” but given the complex sociocultural and even economic associations behind the term, it is not easy to define. As noted in the chapter, I view it as a reflection of the level of need and at times fear and insecurity that people experience.

  8. 8.

    During a spontaneous conversation the manager overseeing the local operations provided information on the company’s intentions in the area.

  9. 9.

    The mining manager said that rare earth minerals are used in the manufacture of technical components for electronic goods and ‘green’ cars, commodities that are in increasing demand on the global market.

  10. 10.

    WIPO’s activities can be accessed at http://www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html.

  11. 11.

    On returning to the field in 2017, I discovered that an alternative, more suitable source of these minerals had been found and the mine had not proceeded.

  12. 12.

    This application was unsuccessful and also returned to the MMCT on the recommendation that they present another application, this time based on a combination of both the cultural and natural value of the area. This is due for submission in early 2019.

  13. 13.

    On returning to the Mulanje area in 2017, I was informed that this area had since been included in the Mulanje Mountain Biosphere Reserve.

  14. 14.

    The National Herbarium and Botanic Gardens is in Zomba.

  15. 15.

    This information was retrieved from http://www.mountmulanje.org.mw/visit.htm.

  16. 16.

    This information was learned through discussions with a local stakeholder who has a personal interest in the conservation of the endemic species.

  17. 17.

    Not seeing the same volume of fuel wood coming down this same road in 2017, I asked about this and was informed that, while during the time of field work about 70 headloads were being carried down this hill on a daily basis, it turned out that this had not been for the personal use of the mainly women carrying it down, but rather for supply to government officials. According to my source, this illegal trade has since been successfully apprehended by the police.

  18. 18.

    Wisborg and Jumbe (2010) argue that political influences often frustrate attempts to deter illegal extraction.

  19. 19.

    He did not say what he based his quantification of 3 packets of cigarettes a day on.

References

  • Ackermann, D., & Joyner, T. (1996). Earth-Healing in South Africa: Challenges to Church and Mosque. In R. R. Ruether (Ed.), Women Healing the Earth: Third World Women on Ecology, Feminism and Religion (pp. 121–134). Maryknoll: Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • African Seed Trade Association. (2014). Retrieved from http://afsta.org/membership/pannar-seed-pty-ltd

  • Anyinam, C. (1995). Ecology and Ethnomedicine: Exploring Links Between Current Environmental Crises and Indigenous Medical Practices. Social Sciences and Medicine, 40(3), 321–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of Traditional Ecological Knowledge as Adaptive Management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1251–1260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bouvier, I. (2005). Mount Mulanje Land Cover Time Series Analysis. SSTA Draft Report. Malawi: Community Partnerships for Sustainable Resource Management in Malawi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, I. (2008). Poetics for a Planet: Discourse on Some Problems of Being-in-Place. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials (pp. 502–538). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosius, J. P. (2001). Local Knowledge, Global Claims: On the Significance of Indigenous Ecologies in Sarawak, East Malaysia. In J. Grim (Ed.), Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community (pp. 125–152). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buenz, E. J. (2005). Country Development Does Not Presuppose the Loss of Forest Resources for Traditional Medicine Use. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 100, 188–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burhenne-Guilmin, F. (2008). Biodiversity and International Law: Historical Perspectives and Present Challenges: Where Do We Come From. Where Are We Going? In M. Jeffery, J. Firestone, & K. Bubna-Litic (Eds.), Biodiversity, Conservation, Law and Livelihoods: Bridging the North-South Divide (pp. 26–42). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conley, V. A. (2009). Artists or “Little Soldiers?” Felix Guattari’s Ecological Paradigms. In B. Herzogenrath (Ed.), Deleuze/Guattari and Ecology (pp. 116–128). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cudworth, E. (2002). Globalisation, Development and Environmental Change. InEnvironment and Society (pp. 128–157). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darko, I. (2009). Ghanian Indigenous Health Practices: The Use of Herbs. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diemont, S., & Martin, J. (2009). Lacandon Maya Ecosystem Management: Sustainable Design for Subsistence and Environment Restoration. Ecological Applications, 19(1), 254–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupont. (2013). South Africa Approves Partnership of DuPont Business Pioneer Hi-Bred and Pannar Seeds. Retrieved from http://investors.dupont.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=73320&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1700052&highlight

  • Eckersley, R. (1990). Habermas and Green Political Thought: Two Roads Diverging. Theory and Society, 19(6), 739–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Environment & Development Group. (2000). Mulanje Mountain and Michesi Forest Reserves, Malawi. Five Year Management Plan: 2001–2005. Oxford: Environment & Development Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Environment & Development Group. (2004). Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve, Malawi. Five Year Management Plan: 2004-2009. Oxford: Environment & Development Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etkin, N. (2002). Local Knowledge of Biotic Diversity and Its Conservation in Rural Hausaland, Northern Nigeria. Economic Botany, 56(1), 73–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furze, B., De Lacy, T., & Birckhead, J. (1996). Culture, Conservation and Biodiversity. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gepts, P. (2004). Who Owns Biodiversity, and How Should the Owners Be Compensated? Plant Physiology, 134(4), 1295–1307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S. (2010). Gaia and Biodiversity. In E. Crist & H. B. Rinker (Eds.), Gaia in Turmoil: Climate Change, Biodepletion and Earth Ethics in an Age of Crises (pp. 107–123). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harré, R., Brockmeier, J., & Muhlhȁuser, P. (1999). Greenspeak: A Study of Environmental Discourse. London: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay-Edie, T., & Hadley, M. (1998). Natural Sacred Sites—A Comparative Approach to their Cultural and Biological Significance. In P. S. Ramakrishnan, K. G. Saxena, & U. M. Chandrashekara (Eds.), Conserving the Sacred for Biodiversity Management (pp. 47–67). Plymouth: Science Publishers Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hecht, J. (2006). Valuing the Resources of Mulanje Mountain. Community Partnerships for Sustainable Resource Management (Compass ll), Occasional Paper no 14. Blantyre: Development Alternatives Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirt, H., & Lindsey, K. (2008). Natural Medicine in the Tropics: II Treatments. Anamed: Winnenden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain, S. K. (2000). Human Aspects of Plant Diversity. Economic Botany, 54(4), 459–470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalipeni, E., & Feder, D. (1999). A Political Ecology Perspective on Environmental Change in Malawi with the Blantyre Fuelwood Project Area as a Case Study. Politics and the Life Sciences, 18(1), 37–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalipeni, E., & Zulu, L. (2002). From Top-down to Bottom-up: The Difficult Case of the Blantyre City Fuelwood Project. Journal of Southern African Studies, 29(1), 117–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaspin, D. (1996). A Chewa cosmology of the body. American Ethnologist, 23(3), 561–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, B. I. (2004). Ideology and Power in Resource Management: From Sustainable Development to Environmental Security in Africa. In W. Mosely & B. Ikubolajeh Logan (Eds.), African Environment and Development: Rhetoric, Programs, Realities (pp. 17–36). Ashgate: Farnham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovelock, J. (2006). The Life History of Gaia. InThe Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back- and How We Can Still Save Humanity (pp. 39–47). Great Britain: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malawi Government. (2006). National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Lilongwe: Government of Malawi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maloya, H. (2010). Environmental Education, Awareness and Communication. Mount Mulanje. Retrieved from http://www.mountmulanje.org.mw/education.htm

  • McMillen, H. (2008). Conserving the Roots of Trade: Local Ecological Knowledge of Ethnomedicines from Tanga, Tanzania Markets. Dissertation Abstracts International (UMI No. 3312595).

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, B. (1986). Herbalism and Divination in Southern Malawi. Social Sciences and Medicine, 23(4), 367–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, B. (1996). Chewa Medical Botany: A Study of Herbalism in Southern Malawi. Hamburg: International African Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, B. (2009). Wildlife and Landscapes in Malawi: Selected Essays on Natural History. British Columbia: Trafford Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust & the Department of Forestry. (2012). Achieving Resilience and Readiness at Mt Mulanje, Malawi. Malawi: Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust & and the Department of Forestry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, N. (2002). Biodiversity and Biodepletion: The Need for a Paradigm Shift. In T. O’Riordan & S. Stoll-Kleemann (Eds.), Biodiversity, Sustainability and Human Communities: Protecting Beyond the Protected (pp. 46–59). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nangoma, D. (2010). Program Officer, Biodiversity Research and Monitoring. Mount Mulanje. Retrieved from http://www.mountmulanje.org.mw/biodiversity.htm

  • Nangoma, D., & Nangoma, E. (2013). Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies: A Case Study of the Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve and its Surroundings. Malawi: Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norscia, I., & Borgognini-Tarli, S. (2006). Ethnobotanical Reputation of Plant Species from Two Forests of Madagascar: A Preliminary Investigation. South African Journal of Botany, 72, 656–660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nwigwe, B. E. (2005). The Philosopher and The Society: A Portrait of Msgr T Okere. In J. O. Oguejiofor & G. I. Onah (Eds.), African Philosophy and the Hermeneutics of Culture: Essays in Honour of Theophilus Okere (pp. 1–13). Transaction Publishers: Piscataway.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Riordan, T. (2002). Protecting Beyond the Protected. In T. O’Riordan & S. Stoll-Kleemann (Eds.), Biodiversity, Sustainability and Human Communities: Protecting Beyond the Protected. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ogle, M. (2010). Gaia Theory: Model and Metaphor for the Twenty-first Century. In E. Crist & H. B. Rinker (Eds.), Gaia in Turmoil: Climate Change, Biodepletion and Earth Ethics in an Age of Crises (pp. 275–289). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oguejiofor, J. O. (2005). Ethnophilosophy and Hermeneutics: Reviewing Okere’s Critique of Traditional African Philosophy. In J. O. Oguejiofor & G. I. Onah (Eds.), African Philosophy and the Hermeneutics of Culture: Essays in Honour of Theophilus Okere (pp. 70–91). Transaction Publishers: Piscataway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, K. (2002). Dancing with Sacred: Evolution, Ecology and God. Pennsylvania: Trinity Press International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pigg, S. (1995). Acronyms and Effacement: Traditional Medical Practitioners (TMP) in International Health Development. Social Sciences and Medicine, 41(1), 47–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, M., Park, J., & Bouamrane, M. (2010). Reporting Progress on Internationally Designated Sites: The Periodic Review of Biosphere Reserves. Environmental Science & Policy, 13, 549–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Probst, P. (2002). Expansion and Enclosure: Ritual Landscapes and the Politics of Space in Central Malawi. Journal of Southern African Studies, 28(1), 178–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, K. (2009). Dancing with Disaster. Australian Humanities Review, 46, 131–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, D. (2004). Globalizing Indigenous Resistance. In K. Ausubel & J. P. Harpignies (Eds.), Ecological Medicine: Healing the Earth, Healing Ourselves (pp. 186–192). San Francisco: Sierra Book Clubs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sachs, W. (1999). Planet Dialectics: Explorations in Environment and Development. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sagan, D., & Margulis, L. (1993). God, Gaia and Biophillia. In S. Kellert & E. O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophillia Hypothesis (pp. 345–364). Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salleh, A. (2009). From Eco-Sufficiency to Global Justice. InEco-Sufficiency & Global Justice: Women Write Political Ecology (pp. 291–309). North Geelong: Spinifex Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiva, V. (1993a). Monocultures of the Mind: Perspectives on Biodiversity and Biotechnology. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shiva, V. (1997). Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge. Boston: South End Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stenseth, N. (1999). The Limits of Nature. In W. Lafferty & O. Langhelle (Eds.), Towards Sustainable Development: On the Goals of Development and the Conditions of Sustainability (pp. 97–109). London: Macmillan Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Strangeland, T., Dhillion, S., & Reksten, H. (2008). Recognition and Development of Traditional Medicine in Tanzania. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 117, 290–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, T. (1997). Global Action for Biodiversity: An Internatioanl Framework for Implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. (1992a). Convention on Biological Diversity. Retrieved from http://www.cbd.int/doc/legal/cbd-en.pdf

  • United Nations. (1992b). Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/RIO_E.PDF

  • Wall, F., & Mariano, A. (1996). Rare Earth Minerals in Carbonatites: A Discussion Centred on the Kangankunde Carbonatite, Malawi. In A. Jones, F. Wall, & C. Williams (Eds.), Rare Earth Minerals: Chemistry, Origin and Ore Deposits (pp. 193–222). London: The Mineralogical Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L. (2013). Deepening Ecological Relationality Through Critical Onto-Epistemological Inquiry: Where Transformative Learning Meets Sustainable Science. Journal of Transformative Education, 11(2), 95–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O. (1993). Biophillia and the Conservation Ethic. In S. Kellert & E. O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophillia Hypothesis (pp. 37–41). Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisborg, P., & Jumbe, C. (2010). Mulanje Mountain Biodiversity Conservation Project. Mid-term Review for the Norwegian Government. Norway: Norad. Noagric report No. 57.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inner Sense Intuitive Counselling Services, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Theresa Jones

Authors
  1. Theresa Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Jones, T. (2018). The State of the Biosphere Reserve. In: Raising the Dust. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8420-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8420-1_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8419-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8420-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation