Biodiversity conservation and land rights in South Africa : whither the farm dwellers?

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa is unique in that its globally significant biodiversity, which is under major threat,coexists with an apartheid history of dispossession that produced a starkly unequal landownership pattern and widespread rural poverty. It is in this context that the post-apartheidgovernment must fulfil constitutional and international obligations to safeguard environmentalassets as well as undertake land reform benefiting the previously dispossessed. Consequently,there is a continuous challenge of reconciling complex and often conflicting relationshipsbetween poverty, inequitable access to resources, and the protection of biodiversity. Currentefforts to conserve the Cape Floral Kingdom emphasise partnerships between privatelandowners and existing nature reserves to promote sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. Thispaper explores the potential impact of this approach on farm dwellers, and how changing landuse may affect their land tenure rights and livelihoods. Primary research was undertaken in theBaviaanskloof, where this model is in an early stage of implementation. The paper identifiessystemic and structural tensions in current attempts to reconcile biodiversity conservation andfarm dwellers' interests, and documents issues of process and principle that could becomeimportant in the future. In doing so, it highlights the influence of on-farm power relations andhighly complex institutional arrangements in determining the real extent of participation byaffected farm dwellers and the efficacy of social safeguard policies. Findings also cautionagainst an over-reliance on ecotourism as the major occupation and argues instead for supportto multiple livelihood strategies.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University