Kunuku

Summary

Imagination is understood as a vital element of transformations towards sustainable human societies. This study explores scientific foresights and their relationship to ambiguity in the context of the kunuku landscape on Bonaire. This research constitutes out of four research activities. Firstly, six objects of ambiguity as well as four subjects with converging stakeholder frames were identified through a thematic analysis. Secondly, a stakeholder-driven stakeholder categorisation was conducted to portray the societal network connected to the kunuku landscape. Subsequently, three pathways – consisting out of 58 specific actions – towards a sustainable kunuku landscape in 2050 were co-created within a participatory backcast. Lastly, a novel analytical framework for foresight processes was applied to scrutinise the backcasting and its preceding visioning process.  Based on its findings, this study concludes by recommending a pluralistic, ‘opening-up’ approach towards anticipatory governance and by supporting calls for theory-backed, transdisciplinary foresight processes. 

Imagination is understood as a vital element of transformations towards sustainable human societies. This study explores scientific foresights and their relationship to ambiguity in the context of the kunuku landscape on Bonaire.
This research constitutes out of four research activities. Firstly, six objects of ambiguity as well as four subjects with converging stakeholder frames were identified through a thematic analysis. Secondly, a stakeholder-driven stakeholder categorisation was conducted to portray
the societal network connected to the kunuku landscape. Subsequently, three pathways – consisting out of 58 specific actions – towards a sustainable kunuku landscape in 2050 were co-created within a participatory backcast. Lastly, a novel analytical framework for foresight
processes was applied to scrutinise the backcasting and its preceding visioning process.
Based on its findings, this study concludes by recommending a pluralistic, ‘opening-up’ approach towards anticipatory governance and by supporting calls for theory-backed, transdisciplinary foresight processes.

Agriculture on Bonaire does not support the demand for food on the island, and therefore the people are dependent on expensive food importation. Recently, any Bonairean people abandon their kunukus to take jobs in the urban area in tourism or off-island in the oil industry. Traditionally, a kunuku was used as an agricultural plot for food production for the household. A kunuku would usually have a cactus fence used to contain grazing goats or chickens, or to produce household amounts of sorghum maize, and keep animals out. In order to help restore nature to Bonaire and include it in the daily lives of people, restoration and use of cactus fences on kunukus are being considered as nature inclusive measure. In order to get a better understanding of the current use of kunukus and presence of cactus fences on the island, satellite information and field observations were collected about the state of kunukus and the use of cactus fences. Results show that kunukus are rapidly being abandoned. The predictive accuracy from satellite imagery of active kunukus was high (92.5%). Furthermore, only 4% of the active kunukus have a well-maintained cactus fence. Implications of these findings are discussed with focus on nature inclusiveness and the use of the kunuku as a means to restore a cultural pride, self-sufficiency, local economic diversification and a healthier food culture on Bonaire.

Field observations of over 100 Kunukus from September 2021. The observations have primarilly been used to validate a visual interpretation of satelite imagery of Kunuku use  (Jailani et al., 2020), from which fields a random sample was drawn (Lazebnik et al., 2022).

Observations characterized:

• Kunuku - in use / not in use (based on state of overgrowth)
• Cactus fence state- absent / poor / partial / good

Kunuku fields of Bonaire based on digitisation of a historical paper land capability map (Westerman and Zonneveld, 1956).

For a selection of these fields the (historical) use is known (Cahyani, 2021), based on the same paper source.

See also this report on Kunuku activity and cactus fences.

Agricultural fields of Bonaire based on visual interpretation of satelite imagery of 2019 and 2003 using Google Earth. Fields have been interpreted as being 'in use' when borders could be distinguished between field and neighbouring area and that fields were barren in contrast to the borders and/or neighbouring area. Mind: This data is not (yet) validated with field observations or expert judgement.

The following classes are used:

• [red] Fields that are in agricultural use in 2003, but no longer in 2019 (presumably abandoned, or given a new function like urbanization)
• [yellow] Fields that are both in agricultural use in 2003 and in 2019 
• [grey] Fields that still have recognizable borders in 2003, but don't seem to be used in 2003. Probably abandoned before 2003. This class has only been digitized for the Rincon area