Unruly natures: Awareness, attitudes, and action in environmental stewardship for a better relationship between two urban primates

The Earth’s surface left unimpacted by human activities is diminishing, indicating a growing need for stewardship that facilitates coexistence in close quarters.

Many adaptable species now thrive in human-altered areas, which can seem threatening, undermine food supply and even spawn new deadly diseases.

How do we relate to this type of nature?This project studies environmental stewardship in the context of ‘unruly’ natures, where restoring and protecting ‘natural’ lands is not a viable option. One extremely unruly mammal is the baboon, a highly intelligent, social, omnivorous, dextrous and agile primate.

The world’s largest Urban Baboon Programme is in Cape Town, aiming to deter foraging in built-up areas where they have learnt to access human-made food.

We will map residents’ awareness of and attitudes to baboons, and explore how conflicting perceptions shape actions to promote a sustainable coexistence.We employ a transdisciplinary research process using narrative-based methods and theatrical performance to immerse stakeholders in the knowledge-creation and facilitate understanding of often entrenched positions.

This is guided by scholarship on co-adaptation for coexistence, and relational perspectives of stewardship as a way to promote connection and kinship between humans and the rest of nature.

Working closely with local conservation practitioners and affected residents, we will produce outputs with high scientific and societal relevance in Cape Town and globally.