Inkcubeko Nendalo: A Bio-cultural Diversity Schools Education Project in South Africa and its Implications for Inclusive Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Sustainability

South Africa is currently the world’s third most biodiverse country, with one of the highest concentrations of threatened biodiversity in the world. Emerging research reveals the increasing pressure on this biodiversity with many wild resources continuing to be utilised for livelihood purposes even within urban environments. The Rio conventions, particularly the CBD, call for an integrated approach to conservation that incorporates local environmental knowledge and practices. In a bid to market itself as globally competitive, South Africa’s Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) is primarily focused on Western-based scientific knowledge, which sidelines the contribution of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and ignores the holistic nature of indigenous worldviews. The Inkcubeko Nendalo programme is designed to revitalise cultural identity, showing children the value of local indigenous knowledge and cultural environmental values. The programme is currently being implemented at seven schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The project’s contribution to local community environmental and heritage awareness, successes and challenges are discussed both at a local level and in response to the objectives signed in the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD) and sustainable development. The project offers solutions to not only effective local environmental education but also sustainable integrated community conservation practices, revealing that the maintenance of biodiversity and natural vegetation is as much in the interest of local communities’ well-being as it is of global conservation planners.

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