A weed by any other name? Comparing local knowledge and uses of environmental weeds around the Indian Ocean

This project adopts a comparative framework of analysis to investigate how indigenous and rural communities around the Indian Ocean perceive, classify, and use environmental weeds in their everyday livelihood and cultural activities. It focuses on Lantana camara L., a plant introduced from tropical America to tropical regions around the Indian Ocean in the 19th century, that is now considered a serious agricultural, pastoral, and environmental weed. The study investigates how indigenous and rural communities in Australia, India, Madagascar and South Africa regard lantana in relation to other weedy plants in their landscapes and use them to manage landscapes and livelihoods in the context of dynamic economic and environmental change.