Tlokoeng Valley Community’s Conceptions of Wetlands: Prospects for more Sustainable Water Resources Management

Abstract

This article explores prospects for community-based water resources management in Tlokoeng Valley, in the northern district of Lesotho. A qualitative survey was conducted to establish the pre-knowledge of the valley community. This provided a basis for a community education programme on wetlands conservation. Fifteen focus group interviews (FGIs) were conducted with 105 participants from four villages in the valley. An in-depth analysis of the responses was undertaken to determine emerging environmental worldviews. The findings of the study indicate the community’s limited knowledge of the ecological/scientific value of wetlands, influences of modernism and/or the risk of the ‘tragedy of the commons’ in the use of wetland resources. The occurrence of indigenous epistemology commensurate with ecocentrism was also limited. It is argued that education interventions should be enabling learning experiences that are community driven, and should integrate evidence-based citizen science activities, such as miniSASS, and draw on the theory of lehae-la-rona¹ for its potential to create a sense of connectedness with the environment.