Processes, mechanisms, and policy implications of spatial practices of plant translocality: The case study of South China National Botanical Garden
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Mobility has been an important area of academic thinking about the material turn in recent years. This paper takes the South China National Botanical Garden (SCNBG) as the research object, uses translocality theory, and uses semi-structured interviews, participatory observation, and text collection to understand the translocality practice process of plant relocation and conservation in the SCNBG, specifically examining how translocality practices of plant relocation conservation are realized through the interactions between humans and plants, and how translocality practices shape the operational system of relocation conservation in botanical gardens.The study concludes that: (1) Mobility practice is the driving force of plant relocation conservation, and its process plays out the matrix of power relations formed by the discourse of ecological conservation, the discourse of market economy, and the discourse of politics. (2) The role of agency is an important basis for the translocality practice of plants. Plants are based on their climatic characteristics and environmental adaptations in different spaces, plants shape a flexible plant care system, and exhibit the Plant-Human-Place interaction in botanical gardens. (3) Connectivity is an essential feature of plant translocality practice, which reveals the potential roles of relocated and conserved plants in constructing the social relationship and the connectivity of the natural space. The study opens the black box of translocality practices of plants as a living non-human actor from a geographic perspective, theoretically complementing and refining the theory of translocality practices, and practically providing a governance pathway for the spatial practice of relocated conservation in national botanical gardens.
Source: 自然资源学报
Authors: Yong-qi WU, Xiao-mei CAI
Language: English
Subfield: Geography, Planning and Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4403471409