ABSTRACT
Conceptualising ecological conservation requires the input and outcomes of political engineering amid a safer and viable traditionally connected pattern for environmental management. An ecological social work perspective is based on the Person-In-Environment Model that provides co-existence and co-reliance on the bio-diversity relationship between humans and the environment. Therefore, practitioners have to be more dynamic and flexible, incorporating expertise about the demographics of various communities, their environmental interactions and the connection across people’s confidences and practical insights, as well as the complexities involved in partaking on conservation programmes. Practically, the initiatives would enhance positive behaviour and operational changes on conservation among participants. The research aimed at examining the supposed ecological conservation awareness and benefits at the Big 5 False Bay Municipality. The study employed a qualitative and quantitative approach to data gleaning, the Univariate Analysis of Variance (UNIANOVA) that seeks to understand narratives on ecological conservation practices that strives for the promotion of cultural heritage and promotes empowerment for residents. Consequently, recommendations were made for a practical way forward which proposes for an ‘adoptive-collective’ management for developing conservation practice. The study concluded that conceptualising perceptions about ecological conservation within a socio-cultural and socio-political pattern could motivate behaviour change and a holistic approach to curb structural inequalities.
