Using anticipation to unveil drivers of local livelihoods in Transfrontier Conservation Areas: A call for more environmental justice

[摘要] 1. Calling on the concept of environmental justice in its distributive, procedural andrecognition dimensions, we implemented a coelaborative scenario building approach to explore sustainable livelihoods pathways in four sites belonging to twoTransfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in southern Africa.2. Grounded on participation and transdisciplinarity, as a foundation for decolonised anticipatory action research, we aimed at stimulating knowledge exchangeand providing insights on the future of local livelihoods engaging experts livingwithin these TFCAs.3. Our results show that wildlife and wildlife-related activities are not seen as theprimary drivers of local livelihoods, despite the focus and investments of dominant stakeholders in these sectors. Instead, local governance and land use regulations emerged as key drivers in the four study sites. The state of natural resources,including water, and appropriate farming systems also appeared critical to sustainfuture livelihoods in TFCAs, together with the recognition of indigenous culture,knowledge and value systems.4. Nature conservation, especially in Africa, is rooted in its colonial past and struggles to free or decolonise itself from the habits of this past despite decades of reconsideration. To date, the enduring coloniality of conservation prevents localcitizens from truly participating in the planning and designing of the TFCAsthey live in, leaving room for limited benefits to local citizens and often limitingIndigenous people's capacity to conserve.5. A practical way forward is to consider environmental justice as a cement betweenthe two pillars of the TFCA concept, that is, nature conservation and socioeconomic development of local or neighbouring communities, as part of a morebroadly and urgent need to rethink the relationships between people in, and with,the rest of nature.

[学科分类] 护理学

[关键词] futures;governance;local communities;participatory approach;protected areas;recognition justice;southern Africa;well-being