Article (Scientific journals)
How Rural Communities Relate to Nature in Sub-Saharan Regions: Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands in South-Kivu
Chuma Basimine, Géant; Wellens, Joost; Gustave, Mushagalusa N. et al.
2024In Sustainability, 16 (16), p. 7073
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
sustainability-16-07073 (1).pdf
Publisher postprint (5.56 MB) Creative Commons License - Attribution
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Wetland; Ecosystem services; Perception; D.R. Congo
Abstract :
[en] Research on ecosystem services (ES) has become central to landscape planning, framing the relationship between people and nature. In Sub-Saharan regions, local communities rely heavily on wetlands for various ES. For the first time, we assessed perceptions of ES provided by these wetlands, focusing on marshes, peatlands, swamps, and inland valleys/floodplains in eastern DR Congo. Fieldwork combined with a survey of 510 households, using both open-ended and 35 direct questions, evaluated perceptions of wetland ecosystem services (WESs). The most frequently reported WES were provisioning (38%) and regulating (24%), while supporting (22%) and cultural (16%) were less mentioned. These perceptions varied across wetland types and among communities based on gender, religion, seniority in wetland use, land tenure, and educational level. Rural communities had a deep relationship with nature, shaped by cultural, economic, and geographical factors. Wetlands are viewed positively as sources of goods but also negatively as sources of diseases. A structural equation model (SEM) helped in identifying four latent variables—livelihood, knowledge, personal, and geographical factors—driving WES perceptions. These findings are relevant for developing wetland management policies and suggest including community engagement and collaboration in wetland restoration and regulatory frameworks.
Research Center/Unit :
Laplec
SPHERES - ULiège
Lepur : Centre de Recherche sur la Ville, le Territoire et le Milieu rural - ULiège
Disciplines :
Human geography & demography
Author, co-author :
Chuma Basimine, Géant  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Sphères
Wellens, Joost  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Sphères
Gustave, Mushagalusa N.;  Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Université Evangélique en Afrique, Bukavu 3323, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Schmitz, Serge  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géographie > Service de géographie rurale (Laboratoire pour l'analyse des lieux, des paysages et des campagnes européennes LAPLEC)
Language :
English
Title :
How Rural Communities Relate to Nature in Sub-Saharan Regions: Perception of Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands in South-Kivu
Publication date :
17 August 2024
Journal title :
Sustainability
eISSN :
2071-1050
Publisher :
MDPI AG
Volume :
16
Issue :
16
Pages :
7073
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Development Goals :
11. Sustainable cities and communities
Funders :
ULiège - University of Liège
Funding number :
FSR 2023
Funding text :
This research was fully funded by UR SPHERES of Faculty of Sciences, university of Liège.
Available on ORBi :
since 20 August 2024

Statistics


Number of views
117 (20 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
76 (4 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
0
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
0
OpenCitations
 
0
OpenAlex citations
 
0

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi