Khanyayo village and Mkhambathi Nature Reserve, South Africa: a pragmatic qualitative investigation into attitudes towards a protected area

ABSTRACT

Protected areas are often surrounded by impoverished communities. Biodiversity must be conserved while enabling community members’ livelihoods. Benefit-sharing has been promoted as a means of fostering positive relationships between protected areas and local people, but views differ regarding which benefits have positive results; and which are most valued by communities themselves. This research investigates the attitudes of Khanyayo village towards Mkhambathi Nature Reserve on the Wild Coast of South Africa. A pragmatic, multi-method comparative qualitative approach was followed. Participants were local community members and key staff at Mkhambathi, who work with the community. Individual interviews, focus group interviews and an adapted nominal grouping technique were used, which aided triangulation. Results indicated a range of significant benefits and losses. Tangibles included access to natural resources, employment, infrastructure and training. More intangibles emerged though, such as enjoyment of reserve, involvement in the reserve, communication and environmental education. Losses predominantly related to prohibited or restricted access to natural resources. The comparison between the two participant groups yielded interesting insights. Knowing which benefits are most important to the community and aligning the perceptions of the people and the park staff could improve the relationship as well as enhance successful benefit-sharing.

KEYWORDS:

• Attitudes
• benefits
• comparative analysis
• losses
• multiple methods
• staff

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Khanyayo Chief, Khanyayo village participants and the reserve staff who participated in this research. The reserve manager, Mr Vuyani Mapiya is thanked for his invaluable support, and Prof. Ciné van Zyl for her input as co-supervisor of the PhD study from which this research originates. Thank you to the University of South Africa for funding provided through its Academic Qualification Improvement Programme.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Statistics South Africa (2011) define village as a settlement in a tribal area with boundaries that delimit populated areas as well as agricultural areas such as grazing land, crop land and forests. Villages usually fall under the jurisdiction of tribal authorities headed by chiefs.

2. The reserve name used to be spelt as “Mkambati”, but was changed to “Mkhambathi” after 1994. Both versions are, however, still found in literature regarding the reserve.

3. More recent statistics based on the 2011 national census are unreliable.

4. This research forms part of a PhD where various protected areas and the communities closest to them were selected as case studies.

5. The mapping results are beyond the scope of this article and are therefore excluded.

6. Traditional African medicine, often derived from trees and other plants, and believed to cure various ailments.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dorothy Queiros

Dorothy Queiros is a senior lecturer in the Department of Entrepreneurship, Supply Chain, Transport, Tourism and Logistics Management at the University of South Africa. She specialises in community-based tourism and sustainable tourism development. She is currently working toward the PhD degree in environmental management.

Kevin Mearns

Kevin Mearns is a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of South Africa. He specialises in the research areas of sustainability, sustainable tourism, community-based tourism and community conservation.