Africans and their environment: challenges and possibilities of restoring the link constrained by resource conflicts

Abstract

This chapter first and foremost acknowledges the fact that Africa has a pronounced and complex history of rich as well as valued natural and social-cultural heritage (Ogungbein 2011). It also recognises that traditionally, Africans strongly identified themselves with nature whereby they transcended physical objects to find meaning of their existence in what is superhuman or divine reality (Chemhuru and Maska 2010). Whether this kind of cultural, moral and spiritual attachment and identification with nature still stands the same in contemporary Africa is what should interest the academia and rigorous research-minded people to reflect on. This can help to diagnose the current ecological situation so as to map out why there is generally a transition in African people's perceptions, attitudes, behavioural patterns and interaction with their natural ecosystems. This, absolutely, would help the current generation to get a gist of this fundamental reality; what was, what is, and what is it likely to be in future, and what foreseen consequences are likely to face the future generations if no action is taken now to mitigate the current environment crisis. The chapter also considers the phenomena of urbanisation and globalisation among factors such as foreign modern science and technological application that have continued to have a negative bearing on natural resources in Africa. The abusive practice of these developments has not only heavily impacted on the balance of natural ecosystems (Nyambos 2010) but also contributed significantly to the existing violent conflicts on the African soil. Much as the continent is famously known to be having the widest biodiversity (biological diversity) and eco -diversity, it has been and is still alarmingly losing this natural heritage at a high rate due to anthropogenetic interference precipitated by the global economic order (Musoro 2001) as relayed through globalisation...