Spatial synergies for urban foraging: A South African example

Urban foraging for wild plant and animal products is increasingly recognised for its multiple benefits for people and nature stewardship. Planning for foraging in urban greenspace is one way that foraging can be made more accessible, beneficial, and equitable. Here, we explore how foraging could be recognised and provided for in urban municipalities in eastern South Africa. We synthesise forager and land manager interviews, policy analysis, and iterative discussions to develop four land use configurations under which foraging could be planned for. Design principles for community-based natural resource management are used to assess the feasibility of each configuration. We identify stakeholders who would be involved in governing each configuration, and how urban foraging can co-produce desirable outcomes for their priorities. We list locally-specific actions to enable collaborative greenspace governance through urban foraging. We suggest some generally applicable design considerations and implications for each of the four configurations.