Land Claims and Comanagement of Protected Areas in South Africa: Exploring the Challenges |
| |
Authors: | Thembela Kepe |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 1265 Military Trail, M1C 1A4 Toronto, Canada |
| |
Abstract: | Comanagement has recently become the most popular approach for reconciling land claims and biodiversity conservation in South
Africa and beyond. Following the resolution of land claims on protected areas in South Africa, comanagement arrangements have
been created between the relevant conservation authorities and the land claimant communities who are legally awarded tenure
rights to the land. However, it is doubtful that these partnerships constitute success for the former land claimants. Using
the case of a “resolved” land claim in Mkambati Nature Reserve, Eastern Cape Province, as well as insights from comanagement
literature, this paper identifies and discusses three key possible reasons for the unimpressive performance of comanagement
in reconciling land restitution and conservation. The first one is the origins of the comanagement idea in the conservation
of high value natural resources (e.g., fisheries, forestry), rather than in or including concerns for resource rights. The
second reason is the neglect of key conditions for successful comanagement, as discussed in the comanagement literature. The
final reason is the ambiguity in settlement agreements, including the use of terminology and concepts that reinforce unequal
power relationships, with the state emerging as the powerful partner. This paper concludes that, unless there is a serious
reassessment of the comanagement idea as a way of reconciling land reform and conservation, and a possible review of settlement
agreements that have relied on comanagement, both the integrity of the “successful land claimant’s rights” and that of conservation
remain under threat. |
| |
Keywords: | Comanagement Conservation Land claims South Africa Mkambati |
本文献已被 PubMed SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|