Reflections on indigenous knowledge and practices in the control, use and management of firewood resources

The destruction of vegetation cover due to domestic needs such as firewood has been occurring at a very high rate which does not match with the conservation efforts by the government and other agencies. This study, guided by the Social Construction Theory has examined the role of indigenous knowledge in the conservation of the vegetation cover for the present and future use of society. Through the use of different qualitative research methods including in depth interviews, observations group discussions and the content analysis of the data, the study established that indigenous knowledge has much to contribute to the conservation of the vegetation cover. Indigenous knowledge can fill the missing gaps in the projects on conservation done by the government and other agencies. This is due to the fact that people have their own perceptions on the vegetation cover and know how to conserve it. They know that the vegetation cover is the source of their livelihood and so should be exploited and used with care. Most of the projects on conservation tend to ignore this knowledge and hence end up in failure. It is recommended that new or improved strategies that address the conservation of the vegetation cover and environment in general should be instituted. The new approach should include the indigenous knowledge on environmental management. This conclusion is reached by analyzing the poor outcomes of the measures being implemented to combat the problem of environmental degradation caused by the unproportional harvest of the forest resources for domestic uses such as firewood.