Knowledge and community resilience in rangelands recovery: the case of Wadi Allaqi Biosphere Reserve, South Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract

Many ecosystems are actually social–ecological systems (SESs) consisting of mutually interacting natural and social subsystems. Resilience, the capacity to absorb or withstand perturbations while maintaining structure and functions, is an important feature of these systems. Indigenous or traditional knowledge is considered to be an important factor in being able to absorb change and maintain structure in the context of ecosystem dynamics. In this article, I use the framework of resilience to analyze how the Bedouin communities in Wadi Allaqi, Egypt, experienced and responded to the disturbing impact of Lake Nasser's formation in the mid-1960s. Prior to that disturbance, the Bedouin lifestyle was characterized by traditional pastoral life based on rotational grazing by their herds. Afterward, the Bedouins permanently settled along the shores to make use of the new abundant water resource. This resulted in overgrazing of the rangelands along the lakeside and the disappearance of the traditional pastoral lifestyle. However, the Bedouins later learned to use the Najas species in the lake, ushering in a new SES. This new system is based on tactical grazing along the shores, giving the rangelands the opportunity to recover from the temporary grazing pressure. I argue that because many degraded ecosystems are actually SESs, ecological restoration should also focus on societal-level measures.