Pascoal Gota: Heritage Forests in Inhambane: Negotiating History, Landscape and Environment

Abstract

Heritage forests are gaining greater prominence and importance as places with high cultural and ecological value, and ideal for biodiversity conservation worldwide. However, there are few studies documenting these forests in Mozambique. This thesis presents 88 different cultural heritage sites in Inhambane Province, of which 52 are heritage forests. In this thesis I focus on three case study areas, Luido, Chitanga, and Mapoka showing with satellite images analyses that forest boundaries have remained relatively stable over the last three decades. Heritage forests are connected to discourse and discursive practices of heritage. Chiefs are the main representatives of the local institutions and its associated social codes and system of laws for protection of heritage forests. In post-colonial Mozambique, such local heritage practices were constrained and controlled, however, they were still maintained. Botanical inventories of the forests show that local heritage practices taking place in and around have a fundamental role to the existence of plant diversity. A total of 14 plant species with great conservation value was identified. Most of these locally protected heritage sites are not included in formally protected areas, and they are currently experiencing various types of pressures from within and outside the community, mostly from logging activities. Formal recognition of communities as collaborators and partners to the continuity of these areas is essential and feasible, but such need to be implemented cautiously and driven by communities. There are legal mechanisms at the national and international levels, in culture and biodiversity conservation, to secure these types of heritage sites and conservation areas in Inhambane, Mozambique, and beyond.