TY - JOUR
T1 - Conservation and community in the new South Africa
T2 - A case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve
AU - King, Brian H.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research completed for this paper was funded by the Institute for the Study of World Politics, the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Cultural Ecology specialty group of the AAG, the Graduate School at the University of Colorado, and the Program in Developing Areas, Research and Teaching (DART) at the University of Colorado. The Gilbert White Dissertation Fellowship supported the data analysis and writing. Research completed in South Africa was supported through professional affiliations with the MPB and the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Pretoria. My research assistants Erens Ngubane, Cliff Shikwambane, and Wendy Khoza were instrumental in the completion of the household survey and semi-structured interviews, and this work was only possible because of the generosity shown by members of the Mzinti community. Manuel Peralvo was invaluable in creating the map and assisting with the statistical analysis. I am also grateful to Tony Bebbington, Gary Gaile, Erica King, Terry McCabe, Paul Robbins, Rachel Silvey, Dan Weiner, and three anonymous reviewers who read and commented on earlier drafts of this paper.
Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2007/1
Y1 - 2007/1
N2 - The idealization of natural landscapes and peoples during colonialism, coupled with the popularity of sustainable development in the postcolonial era, has contributed to the expansion of conservation planning throughout the African continent. Concerns surrounding the promotion of national and international conservation agendas at the expense of local livelihood needs have generated interest in community conservation projects that attempt to include local participation and knowledge in natural resource management. The early excitement associated with community conservation has waned in light of recent assessments that it has been unsuccessful in meeting its ecological and social goals. This parallels other research that suggests communities are understood in generic or homogenous ways that influence how these initiatives are understood. Using a case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve, this paper evaluates how rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods, and how these access patterns impact their views of the project. It is argued that there are significant livelihood variations within the community that shape the ways households engage with, and benefit from, conservation planning. Rather than strictly viewing Mahushe Shongwe as a constraint to environmental resource access or site for limited employment, community members identify a number of benefits from its existence including education and development opportunities. Additionally, transformations in governance systems in the region impact community views of the project since younger residents are less likely to engage with the Matsamo Tribal Authority, which participates in managing the reserve. The consequence is that conservation has various impacts and meanings within a specific community that remain tied to the livelihood and governance systems being renegotiated in the post-apartheid era.
AB - The idealization of natural landscapes and peoples during colonialism, coupled with the popularity of sustainable development in the postcolonial era, has contributed to the expansion of conservation planning throughout the African continent. Concerns surrounding the promotion of national and international conservation agendas at the expense of local livelihood needs have generated interest in community conservation projects that attempt to include local participation and knowledge in natural resource management. The early excitement associated with community conservation has waned in light of recent assessments that it has been unsuccessful in meeting its ecological and social goals. This parallels other research that suggests communities are understood in generic or homogenous ways that influence how these initiatives are understood. Using a case study of the Mahushe Shongwe Game Reserve, this paper evaluates how rural households access environmental and economic resources to produce livelihoods, and how these access patterns impact their views of the project. It is argued that there are significant livelihood variations within the community that shape the ways households engage with, and benefit from, conservation planning. Rather than strictly viewing Mahushe Shongwe as a constraint to environmental resource access or site for limited employment, community members identify a number of benefits from its existence including education and development opportunities. Additionally, transformations in governance systems in the region impact community views of the project since younger residents are less likely to engage with the Matsamo Tribal Authority, which participates in managing the reserve. The consequence is that conservation has various impacts and meanings within a specific community that remain tied to the livelihood and governance systems being renegotiated in the post-apartheid era.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2006.08.001
DO - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2006.08.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33845708985
VL - 38
SP - 207
EP - 219
JO - Geoforum
JF - Geoforum
SN - 0016-7185
IS - 1
ER -