The San: Sustainable Development Before Its Time

摘要

Key element of sustainable development, water management presupposes a solid knowledge of the environment and its resources. Indigenous populations often have mastered this knowledge for generations. This is true of the San, who for centuries were able to make the most of the scant water resources to be found in the desert region of the southern Kalahari (South Africa). This knowledge, however, based on respect of the local ecosystem, was lost at the time of colonisation.