THE ROLE OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS IN ZIMBABWE’S CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION CONUNDRUM

Abstract

The natural environment and natural resources are under serious threat. The Zimbabwe Environmental Management Agency (E.M.A) is currently working hard to instill into people its conservation and management ethics. This research attempts to refer back to pre-colonial Zimbabwe and unravel the strategies that were engaged to conserve the natural environment. The argument is that the pre colonial conservation ethics and their sanctions which have helped to check abuse of the environment in pre-colonial Zimbabwe are still imperative in the current Zimbabwean environmental conservation conundrum. It is therefore critical that the history of environmental conservation strategies in pre-colonial Zimbabwe be unraveled. Even though the Zimbabwean people have been exposed to cultural hybridization, they continue to be guided by their ethos, in the conservation and management of natural resources. This study further contends that pre-colonial Zimbabwean environmental conservation ethos proffer a sustainable use of the environment, minerals, fish, forests and wildlife, protection of plants, management of water and water sources. It is thus critical that the history of the conservation of the environment be known in order to uphold the religious beliefs, cultural mores and practices which are still fundamental in sustainable use and management of the environment in contemporary Zimbabwe.