Legal frameworks for and the practice of participatory natural resources management in South Africa

Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa

“…Based on uncritical use of these, collaborative governance is often packaged by conservation agencies as a desirable natural resources management approach strategy for local economic development and poverty alleviation (Brockington et al, 2006;Adams and Hutton, 2007;Kepe et al 2005;2008). However, collaborative governance in practice has been shown to be extremely complex and many attempts have demonstrated limited success (Campbell et al, 2001a;Coe, 2013;Mwakaje et al, 2013).…”

“…Despite these critiques, South Africa has, since its transition to democratic rule in 1994, pursued to emulate this participatory natural resource governance model, by implementing collaborative governance in parks and beyond them (Kepe et al, 2005;Kepe, 2008b;Holmes-Watts and Watts, 2008;Cundill et al, 2013). The embracing of collaborative governance in South African parks is nowhere more evident than in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) where the indigenous San community has ownership and use rights.…”

Local people and conservation officials’ perceptions on relationships and conflicts in South African protected areas

“…Most PAs in South Africa have a historical legacy of forced displacement of local communities, which denied these communities access to land for various livelihood activities and involvement in PA management (Ramutsindela 2003;Kepe et al 2005). In response, the South African government has, since the transition to democratic rule in 1994, attempted to redress this via granting local communities land tenure and use rights in PAs and promoting their participation in decision-making in PA management (Kepe et al 2005;Holmes-Watts & Watts 2008;Cundill et al 2013;Thondhlana et al 2016). In postapartheid South Africa, the involvement of local communities in PA management is part of the national conservation discourse and policy, related to local community demands for historical redress for land alienation and more equitable access to natural resources as part of the country's broader socio-economic transformation (Ramutsindela 2003;Holmes-Watts & Watts 2008;Kepe 2008).…”

“…In response, the South African government has, since the transition to democratic rule in 1994, attempted to redress this via granting local communities land tenure and use rights in PAs and promoting their participation in decision-making in PA management (Kepe et al 2005;Holmes-Watts & Watts 2008;Cundill et al 2013;Thondhlana et al 2016). In postapartheid South Africa, the involvement of local communities in PA management is part of the national conservation discourse and policy, related to local community demands for historical redress for land alienation and more equitable access to natural resources as part of the country's broader socio-economic transformation (Ramutsindela 2003;Holmes-Watts & Watts 2008;Kepe 2008). Despite this attempt, many PAs are often marred by tensions epitomised by cases of periodic skirmishes and violent conflicts between local communities and conservation officials, even in cases where land settlement agreements have been finalised (Kepe et al 2005;Fay 2007;Thondhlana et al 2011Thondhlana et al , 2016.…”

“…Mounting evidence shows that perceptions towards conservation are shaped differently by a diverse range of demographic factors including education levels, gender, household size and age (Kideghesho et al 2007;Mutanga et al 2015) and socio-economic factors such as past experiences with PAs, wealth status, benefit accrual from PAs and the perceived state of relationships with PAs and PA officials (Allendorf et al 2007(Allendorf et al , 2012; Kideghesho et al 2007;Tessema et al 2010). Socioeconomic factors like past experiences, benefit-sharing in PAs and conflicts with PAs are particularly considered key to understanding perceptions on conservation (Holmes-Watts & Watts 2008;Bennett 2016), given the goal of ensuring conservation with a 'human face'.…”