A case study for wetland restoration towards socio-ecological appreciation of natural resources in Kwazulu-Natal (South Africa)

Abstract

Social cognitive theory suggests that in order to bring about change in society an environment conducive to change is imperative. This theory was investigated within a socio-ecological framework using a comparative study of a semi-rural community and an urban transit camp community located within the Adams Rural Wetland and the Isipingo Wetland (KwaZulu-Natal), respectively. These communities are located in the vicinity of critically endangered wetlands where the endangered Hyperolius pickersgilli (Pickersgill’s reed frog) occurs. As such, the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s Threatened Amphibian Programme conducted ecological rehabilitation and habitat protection to secure a suitable habitat for this frog. As part of these initiatives, wetland health assessments were conducted using WET-Health and socio-ecological assessments using questionnaires administered to local residents as a basis for measuring changes in the wetland system and associated community attitudes towards these systems, respectively. WET-Health results showed the Adams Rural Wetland to be in a better ecological state with a health score of 81% while Isipingo scored just 22%. The socio-ecological assessments revealed that 85% of the Adams Rural Wetland community members felt positive about where they lived, citing “peace” and “quiet” as the main benefits. On the other hand, only 17% of the Isipingo Wetland community felt positive in this regard, citing accessibility and economic savings as the realised benefits. The attitude assessments revealed that 54% of the Adams Rural Wetland community scored above average in positivity towards the environment in comparison to 29% of community members from the Isipingo Wetland. It was also observed that the community at Adams Rural Wetland made more use of local natural resources (36%) than the Isipingo Wetland community, where only 8% of community members use locally sourced natural resources. This indicates that a person’s positivity and attitude towards the environment decreases as natural resource availability and ecological health decrease. Furthermore, social and ecological restoration interventions improve attitudes towards the environment and ecological conditions. It may be concluded that, firstly, an intact ecological infrastructure allows communities to utilise their environment more effectively, which may foster a greater appreciation of the natural environment and, secondly, restoration interventions can positively affect social and ecological systems, providing a strong basis for ecological restoration towards the promotion of socio-ecological integrity.