UDTR — Radar mondial des droits de la Nature

“PRIMITIVE KNOWLEDGE”? REFLECTIONS ON UBUNTU AND DAOISM ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN THE ZAMBEZI RIVER BASIN

Identification

Clé publique

radar:r-6f012ae11d94f785d523015f68c7c6d2

Auteurs

Douglas Lucas Kivoi · Tanaka Aggrey Chitsa

Année déclarée

—

Langue déclarée

en

Type source

ART

Première détection

2026-11-13T15:28:22.436276+00:00

Dernière observation des métadonnées

2026-11-13T15:28:22.436276+00:00

Dernière vérification HTTP

Non effectuée

Institutions déclarées par la source

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Kenya. · Africa University, Mutare, Zimbabwe.

Résumé documentaire — langue originale

Plato lamented nearly 2500 years ago that land degradation in the city of Athens had stripped it off the lush hills of Greece. Among the key forms of degradation are deforestation, drought, siltation of rivers, destruction of water catchment areas, soil erosion, poaching and pollution due to industrialization. This destruction has been going on unabated despite awareness creation through education and also legislations. The greed of humanity for exploitation of the environment for profits has exposed the soft underbelly of human civilization giving rise to phenomena like global warming, floods, drought and now diseases associated with environmental degradation are a threat to the survival of mankind. Ubuntu is a philosophy that recognizes the humanness of Africans whereby the sense of collectiveness imbues the collective responsibility to others. “We are, therefore I am”. However, this restriction of ubuntu to humanity only is problematic since it negates the special relationship homo sapiens have towards the flora and fauna. Traditional African knowledge systems utilizes proverbs, cultural beliefs, taboos, totems, shrines as ways of promoting man’s tolerance towards the environment whereby mankind is just but a mere caretaker. African philosophy encourages a collective sense of responsibility to conservation. In most African communities, the practice of meshing environmental seasons and animal identities with that of clan names, family lineage names, environment seasons creates a sense of human/animal similitudes which encourages a communal commitment to conservation of flora and fauna. Majority of the communities living in the Zambezi river basin are grappling with challenges posed by climate change. These communities had and still have their own indigenous knowledge systems that enabled them to live harmoniously with the environment. On the other hand, according to the earliest Daoist texts, when human nature is aligned with the rest of nature, order and harmony are inherent. Thus, according to Daoism we should therefore aspire to being simple and unadorned, with no illusions about our own significance in the cosmos. Here, Daoism treats humanity simply as a part of nature and not as a master of nature. This paper examines how, since time immemorial, ubuntu and Daoism has been used to conserve the ‘natural’ environment in the process making its use sustainable which could come in handy especially in addressing the challenges posed by environmental degradation in the Zambezi river basin.

Identifiants

HAL

hal-05318769

Repères documentaires

Famille documentaire

article

Types déclarés par les sources

ART

Les mentions d’entités ne constituent pas une preuve de reconnaissance juridique. La juridiction étudiée est distincte du pays d’affiliation des auteurs.

Sources

HAL · Document 1

• Document · https://hal.science/hal-05318769v1

Statut documentaire

Pertinence à examiner

Bibliothèque

Cette identité n’est pas encore intégrée à la Bibliothèque juridique.