Increased attention has been given recently to the role of NTFP's in maintaining rural livelihoods and to the spiritual roles of forests and trees for local communities. Few studies have investigated the utilitarian and cultural roles of forests and trees in an integrated manner. Most studies have been focused on indigenous communities with little attention given to the role of biodiversity in local communities living under non-traditional conditions. Furthermore most research has focussed on the extraction of resources in tropical rain forests and only recently have attempts been made to determine the contribution of temperate-zone vegetation types. The aim of this paper was to highlight the significance of plant diversity in the livelihoods of rural communities within the Valley Bushveld in South Africa. It documents the various uses of NTFP's, the species used, the amounts harvested and their value of nine different use categories. In total 103 plant species were used, but only 17 were recorded by over 10% of the households on a regular basis. The mean gross direct use value for the utilisation of wild plant resources amounts to $159¹ per annum per household. The use of NTFP's is not purely utilitarian. Approximately one-third of the species and just over half of the total use value were for cultural purposes. This illustrates that plant diversity is important in serving the cultural needs of non-traditional local communities. Programmes for biodiversity conservation should heed its role in traditional cultures.

The concept of cultural landscapes relates to the multifaceted links between people, place and identity. From a professional perspective, the concept refers to a category of designated conservation areas with specific biocultural heritage values. From a local perspective, it may refer to a landscape that is associated with the provision of a culturally-specific sense of identity and belonging. We explore these two perspectives through a comparative analysis of three cultural landscapes in South Africa, the ‘expert’ designated Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape and the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape, and the local associative landscape of emaXhoseni, which is not formally recognised. We propose that a biocultural diversity perspective of heritage not only recognises the inextricable relationship between nature and culture, but it also gives prominence to the beliefs, values and practices of local people, and to strengthening their agency to safeguard their heritage in ways and forms that are relevant to them.

South Africa continues to experience high rates of rural–urban migration. Despite long-term residence in urban areas, many migrants do not consider the city to be home. This article presents a multi-sited study of Xhosa-speaking migrants who journey between Centane in the former Transkei homeland and Cape Town. The study aimed to explore the relationship that migrants have with their family home (ekhayeni). We interpret migrants’ narratives of life in the city and returning home in terms of processes of ‘place attachment’ (sensory, narrative, historical, spiritual, ideological, commodifying and material dependence) and factors that influence ‘place belonging’ (autobiographical, relational, cultural, economic and legal). We found that the landscape of home remains central to migrants’ cultural identity, belonging and well-being. Childhood experiences in nature and activities that continue to take rural inhabitants into these landscapes remain key to this relationship. Our case material contributes to understanding people’s motivation for ongoing visits to and investment in the rural areas, notably the emotional and spiritual dimensions of home and belonging, and the sensory and spiritual attachment to the natural environment. This complements and extends other recent work on rural–urban migration, which has focused on the rural areas as sites of asserting citizenship, social change and changing forms of investment that are to a large extent driven by the lack of opportunity to do so meaningfully in the informal settlements migrants inhabit in the city.