Should we save nature while people go hungry? : an analysis of nature preservation and poverty within the South African context

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:South Africa is a land of stunning beauty and scenic wonder, with contrasts ranging from aridsemi-desert areas to lush green forests; from flat plains to towering mountains. Socially andeconomically it is likewise a country of extreme contrasts (MacDonald 2002: 13). The SouthAfrican Constitution, as adopted on 8 May 1996, grants every citizen basic, inalienable humanrights. Under certain circumstances, however, some of these rights can come to stand in directopposition to one another leaving us with a dilemma to choose between two compelling actions.In this context, the right to a secure, ecologically sustainable environment and the right to foodand water is in conflict. The greatest challenge to face South Africa is to eradicate poverty anddevelop its people while ensuring that the natural environment is not destroyed in the process.There must be development for this generation, but not at the price of destroying the naturalenvironment for the next generation.We have ample examples from the apartheid era of damage done both to people and to theenvironment through the homeland policy. Millions of people were forced to eke out anexistence on land that could not carry the number of people consigned to these remote areas.Erosion, deforestation and poverty are the heritage. There are increasing demands fordevelopment, but these demands are infinite while the resources of the world are finite. Thequestion now arises whether the right to a safe environment or the right to sufficient food andwater, both enshrined in the Constitution should be given preference. I aim to show that HolmesRolston III's article Feeding People versus Saving Nature? and the points made in Hardin'sTragedy of the Commons fail to satisfy public norms and therefore fall short to help us insolving this dilemma. l propose the bioregional management approach that focuses upon thepolitical means to promote restoration and maintenance of the natural systems that ultimatelysupport the people and nature in each area. I believe that this strategy could succeed in solvingthe impasse that the South African society has reached in solving this very complex dilemma.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University