Negotiations of history, landscape and environment through heritage forests and heritage practices in Inhambane province, Mozambique

Pascoal Gota, University of Nottingham

Communities have perspectives, practices, and social norms safeguarded and transmitted intergenerationally. This body of knowledge, experiences and institutions shapes communities’ worldviews about heritage, conservation, landscape and environmental management. Recently I documented the histories of forest patches embedded in social memories and physical remains to narrate the role of forest mosaics in shaping the identity of current communities in Inhambane province.In the seminar I will present the first inventory of existing forest patches, plant biodiversity and local heritages practices in the province. I that process I will outline the methodology from which I applied various methods from different fields constituting the entanglement of historical ecology, oral history, cultural heritage, GIS, and environmental history. I will also show the consequences of assuming that savannas are degraded and forest areas that may have been culturally protected over time are “threatened” by local practices of landscape management.

Studying these forests through the lens of communities, local practices, and local landscape management offers alternative ways of thinking about human-environment interactions, the relationship between the role of communities in conservation of biodiversity, heritage and natural resources management in general.

Lastly, I will talk about the activities I am developing within the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project - Constructing Climate Coloniality: Histories, Knowledges and Materialities of Climate Adaptation in Southern Africa.