‘Urban biocultural diversity’ as a framework for human–nature interactions: reflections from a Brazilian favela

Abstract

Biocultural diversity (BCD), denoting the ‘inextricable link’ between biological and cultural diversity, has traditionally highlighted the coevolution between highly biodiverse regions and the ethnic–linguistic diversity of indigenous communities. Recently, European researchers have relaunched BCD as a conceptual foundation for urban greenspace planning capable of overcoming challenges of the ecosystem services paradigm. However, the methodological foundation for this particular approach to ‘urban BCD’ is still in its infancy, obscuring precisely how the framework is an advancement for studying different urban residents’ experience of and connectedness to nature and biodiversity. In this paper, we further develop the urban BCD concept by using the culturally and biologically diverse city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a ‘critical case’. First, we employ qualitative field methods to investigate manifestations of human–nature relationships in the favela (informal settlement) of Rocinha and the neighbouring Tijuca Forest. Second, we reflect on how the urban BCD framework and methodology emphasise i) interrelationships, ii) varied group values and iii) participation, and iv) are sensitising and reflexive. Our findings challenge the ‘usual’ narrative about favelas as places of environmental degradation and disaster risk, revealing BCD and nature connectedness that are as related to popular culture, fitness ideals and citizen-building, as to traditional livelihoods and spiritual beliefs. Departing from interrelationships, BCD can portray aspects that a narrow focus on ‘services’ and ‘disservices’ cannot, but attention should be paid to how operationalisation risks perpetuating ecosystem services thinking. Nevertheless, we identify promising avenues for its use in highly diverse cities with unequal access to natural areas.

Land use and social-ecological legacies of Rio de Janeiro's Atlantic urban forests: from charcoal production to novel ecosystems

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Field Environmental Philosophy: A Biocultural Ethic Approach to Education and Ecotourism for Sustainability

“…Recent studies have examined biocultural diversity in the urban ecosystems of Europe that are increasingly experiencing cultural heterogeneity in order to locate points of access for engaging with the natural and biocultural world [76]. An understanding of the local biocultural diversity of a locality is crucial to strengthening and building relationships between citizens and their local environment [2,6,7,77]. Additionally, recognition of urban biocultural diversity aids in overcoming the nature-culture dichotomy, and in cultivating traditional and novel relationships between local cultures and local biodiversity [76,78].…”

Assessing People’s Values of Nature: Where Is the Link to Sustainability Transformations?

“…It is therefore important to emphasise that within the efforts of IPBES, the role of descriptive knowledge and descriptive modes of values is of crucial importance for the democratic inclusion and participation of diverse groups. Descriptive and context-specific investigations can be subversive through representing alternative and marginal perspectives in assessments, and challenge topdown scientific categorisations (Stålhammar and Brink, 2020).…”