Starting the conversation: land issues and critical conservation studies in post-colonial Africa

Abstract

This thematic issue brings together the scholarly fields of critical conservation studies and African land issues, a relationship largely unexplored to date. The alienation of land for conservation purposes, introduced to Africa under colonial rule and still taking place today, has fundamental impacts on the politics of land and land use, and is contested in contemporary nation-states – including those that are attempting to implement land restitution and reform. The contributors explore these issues in a range of African contexts. Three key themes are identified: the problematic constructions of ‘community’ by outside agencies; spatial exclusion and the silencing of local voices; and the neoliberalisation of conservation spaces. In contributing to new perspectives on these themes, this thematic issue shows how discourses and practices of conservation, increasingly shaped by neoliberalism, currently impact on land ownership, access and use. It further highlights some important historical continuities. These trends can be observed in transfrontier conservation areas, on state-owned land used for conservation and ‘green’ initiatives, but also on private land where conservation is increasingly turned to commercial purposes.

Keywords:

• nature conservation
• African land issues
• communities
• neoliberalisation
• spatialities of exclusion

Acknowledgements

The Guest Editors would like to extend their gratitude to academics and practitioners integral to the development and success of the Old Land, New Practices conference, not least Prof. Bram Büscher of the International Institute of Social Studies, the Hague; Saliem Fakir, Head of the Living Planet Unit of WWF South Africa and Prof Fred Hendricks, Dean of Humanities at Rhodes University. Particular thanks go to Prof Maano Ramutsindela from the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town for his rigorous engagement, support and advice before and during the conference and crucially in the development of this thematic issue. We would also like to extend our thanks to the reviewers who provided constructive critique to the authors to transform their conference papers into publishable articles. Finally we would like to thank the following individuals and institutions for their financial support and contributions to making the Old Land, New Practices conference possible: Rhodes University Research Office and the Dean of Humanities, Fred Hendricks; the Faculty of Humanities and the School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in particular its former Dean Prof. Tawana Kupe and Prof. Philip Bonner who holds the NRF Chair in History; and finally the Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Prof. Neil Heidemann, and the Department of Geography (especially Prof. Peter Holmes and Dr. Charles Barker) at the University of the Free State.