Cape Town is a unique city. It has a global biodiversity hotspot, in the midst of an urban area. Historically, nature conservation practice excluded and marginalized certain groups of people based on their race and class. This has led to peoples‘ disconnection from nature. Rapid biodiversity loss is a major concern for conservators. In the last three decades, there has been a paradigm shift in conservation practice in certain parts of the world. The Cape Flats Nature programme based in Cape Town followed suit and aimed to stimulate a bottom-up participatory approach to conservation and replace the traditional top-down management strategy. The programme was tasked to reconcile the challenges of complex and conflicting relationships between urban poverty, unequal access to resources and biodiversity conservation. This study was aimed at investigating the relationships between conservation management, community partners and urban conservation areas. These relationships are vital for the progression of new conservation practice in places where people live and work. In addition, the transformative aspects of conservation in relation to social inclusion and the shift in conservation approaches was investigated. The study was conducted at five of Cape Town‘s nature reserves, Edith Stephens Wetland Park, Macassar Dunes, Harmony Flats, Wolfgat and Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserves. Data collection included in depth interviews with key informants from various conservation organizations, the Cape Flats Nature Programme team, the managers of the selected reserves and community partners. Others included observational methods and analysis of secondary data. It was found that relationships between conservators and local communities are not easily created and maintained but relationships regardless of its depth are equally beneficial to communities and the conservators. Balancing social needs with conservation needs is a struggle for conservators but many successes came in cases where this balance was realized. In addition, the transformation of conservators‘ identity has changed community perceptions of conservation practice holistically. Although, many informants feel that transformation continues to remain unequal. / Magister Artium - MA

Magister Artium - MA / Cape Town is a unique city. It has a global biodiversity hotspot, in the midst of an urban area. Historically, nature conservation practice excluded and marginalized certain groups of people based on their race and class. This has led to peoples‘ disconnection from nature. Rapid biodiversity loss is a major concern for conservators. In the last three decades, there has been a paradigm shift in conservation practice in certain parts of the world. The Cape Flats Nature programme based in Cape Town followed suit and aimed to stimulate a bottom-up participatory approach to conservation and replace the traditional top-down management strategy. The programme was tasked to reconcile the challenges of complex and conflicting relationships between urban poverty, unequal access to resources and biodiversity conservation. This study was aimed at investigating the relationships between conservation management, community partners and urban conservation areas. These relationships are vital for the progression of new conservation practice in places where people live and work. In addition, the transformative aspects of conservation in relation to social inclusion and the shift in conservation approaches was investigated. The study was conducted at five of Cape Town‘s nature reserves, Edith Stephens Wetland Park, Macassar Dunes, Harmony Flats, Wolfgat and Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserves. Data collection included in depth interviews with key informants from various conservation organizations, the Cape Flats Nature Programme team, the managers of the selected reserves and community partners. Others included observational methods and analysis of secondary data. It was found that relationships between conservators and local communities are not easily created and maintained but relationships regardless of its depth are equally beneficial to communities and the conservators. Balancing social needs with conservation needs is a struggle for conservators but many successes came in cases where this balance was realized. In addition, the transformation of conservators‘ identity has changed community perceptions of conservation practice holistically. Although, many informants feel that transformation continues to remain unequal. / South Africa

A dissertation of limited scope submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters of Recreation and Tourism in the Department of Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, 2009. / Coastal tourism development strategies are a new phenomenon in the world of community development and community conservation. The development of tourism products as compared to their conservation, is an ongoing debate, which has been tackled by many tourism scholars. The management of natural and cultural environments is of utmost importance in the development of ecotourism in places such as the Town of St Lucia, as well as in the St Lucia Estuary. This research study, therefore, sought to assess on comparative basis the conservation and commercialisation [commodification] of tourism resources, paying particular attention to the application of coastal tourism development strategies. In other words, the research study involves identifying key management practices and strategies that would contribute to the conservation of tourism resources. In this regard the basic objectives of this study include the following: (a) To reveal the extent to which stakeholders understand the meaning and importance of tourism development in the Town of St Lucia. (b) To find out if the coastal tourism resources in the study area are adequately supplied. (c) To determine the level to which tourism management and development strategies are employed or utilised in the study area. (d) To find out which ecotourism policy approach the stakeholders favour for the study area, between conservation as compared to the commercialisation [commodification]. (e) To establish how stakeholders perceive the existence and application on tourism development policies in the study area. (f) To establish the extent to which the local community benefits from ecotourism related activities or practices. The government and municipal authorities believe that tourism could enhance the development of rural areas on an ecologically and economically viable basis and improve the quality of life of the local people. The study has several hypotheses in this regard, and has utilised the qualitative and quantitative approach in collecting, analysing and interpreting data. In fact, data was analysed through use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to establish frequency tables, bar graphs, and cross-tabulations in representing statistical data. The findings of the study included the following: (a) the stakeholders were found to have a good understanding of the meaning and importance of ecotourism development; (b) the supply of coastal tourism resources was found to be inadequate; (c) the tourism management and development strategies were not up to the required standard; (d) the stakeholders favoured the policy of conservation as compared to that of commercialisation or commodification; (e) the existence and application of tourism development policies were found to be inadequately implemented; (f) the ecotourism benefits for the local community were found to be available and adequate. Finally, the emerging conclusion of the study was that, notwithstanding that the stakeholders favoured the policy of conservation, they were of the view that ecotourism management and development strategies, as well as community beneficiation, were not up to the required and expected standard in the study area.

No description available.

Grass-roots conservation efforts, implemented at the local level, have become increasingly popular within the U.S. and abroad. The conservation and natural resource literature has touted these initiatives as more effective when compared to top-down management efforts. As localities are given more responsibility for managing their own natural resources, their ability to do so effectively has become a major concern. I sought to determine the capacity of these community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) groups to contribute to successful ecosystem management in the state of Illinois, with three primary objectives: to determine the primary components of capacity within a CBNRM organization (chapter 2); to identify the relationship between the levels of capacity in a CBNRM organization and the quality of natural resource management planning conducted by the group (chapter 3); and, to evaluate the effects of resource management plans (RMPs) produced by CBNRM groups on the ecological integrity of the prescribed area. This multi-disciplinary project necessitated reliance on the principles of both sociology and ecology, as required by explorations of socio-ecological systems. This dissertation is an attempt to model the success of CBNRM initiatives by examining changes in ecological integrity and attainment of conservation goals. It is my intent that this model can be used by CBNRM groups in Illinois and other contexts to best meet their goals, and by organizations seeking to assist CBNRM groups as an investment guide to determine what type of assistance is most likely to lead to environmental change. I found motivation, leadership, respect, mutual interest/shared values, outreach/education, marketing, communication, planning, funding and equipment/supplies were the most important drivers of CBNRM group capacity. Additionally, my results show that capacity varied significantly among groups with low, moderate and high RMP success, and that group capacity was predictive of the degree of RMP success. Lastly, I found bird indicators increased, especially at the 7-8 year post-RMP mark, providing some evidence of the utility of CBNRM initiatives in affecting positive environmental change.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Community-based management of natural resource (CBNRM) projects have commonly failed to deliver conservation and development benefits. This thesis examined how the theoretical assumptions of common pool resource (CPR) theory have contributed to the indifferent performance of CBNRM projects. Evidence was gathered from two CBNRM case studies in Zanzibar to show that CPR institutional design does not sufficiently acknowledge the politics or social relations of project sites. Moreover, these limitations reduce CPR theory's explanatory power and the functionality of CBNRM projects. This is because CPR theory's influence on CBNRM projects is to frame people with fixed identities and related interests as 'rational resource users', rather than people enrolled in multiple network relations with differentiated means of influence, interests and responsibilities. Actor-oriented theory is used to show that CBNRM would benefit from a shift in the correlation with institutional design factors to understanding the operation of power and conflict at project sites. These findings suggest that currently CBNRM projects are too mired in concern about regulating the 'direct' relationship between resource users and conservation objectives, with problematic implications. It is shown that actor-oriented theory is more sensitive to the different capacities, interests and strategies of actors in CBNRM institutional transformation processes. While actor-oriented theory does not offer a parsimonious or predictive theory to reform CPR theory or CBNRM policy, it can provide insights into pre-project conditions and emergent practice useful for explaining project interventions.

Community forestry is an evolving approach to forest management, shown to maintain forest cover, while generating income for local communities. In Sierra Norte (SN), a region with no public protected areas, indigenous communities have been actively conserving their forests for decades, through conservation zoning and careful management of their logging areas. This study found that across 22 communities in SN, an estimated 2,949,116.50 m3 of timber were produced from 1993 to 2013, while the region maintains 78% forest cover. About 75% of the forest is under some form of community conservation. Community governance plays a major role, as rules and regulations regarding use, access, and conservation of communal lands are established and enforced by community members. The findings of this study support arguments that advocate for community forest management, as forest communities prove to maintain forest cover and decrease degradation, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing forest carbon stocks.

This thesis investigates how seven communities in a subregion of the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca are conserving high forest cover in the absence of national protected areas. To conduct this study I relied on archival research and the review of community documents, focus group interviews and land use transects to explore historical and current land use. I found that communities have conserved 88.34% of the subregion as forest cover, or 58,596 hectares out of a total territory of 66,264 hectares. Analysis suggests that the communities have undergone a historical transition from more passive conservation to more active, conscious conservation particularly in the last decade. This thesis further contends that communities deserve additional financial compensation for this active conservation of globally important forests for biodiversity conservation and that exercises in systematic conservation planning ignore the reality that existing biodiversity conservation in the subregion is associated with community ownership.

This thesis utilizes three theoretical approaches; political ecology, settler culture and community conservation to examine soil conservation and the white agrarian environment in colonial Zimbabwe to evaluate to what extent players in government and the agricultural sector were conscious or concerned about preservation and conservation of the soil. The thesis also examines the role of local and international ideas in the colony’s conservationist tradition, and whether the soil conservation movement was identity-forming among the colony’s settler farmers. The history of conservation on settler farms in colonial Zimbabwe can be periodized into three broad timeframes - from the 1890s to around the mid-1930s, between 1934 and 1965 and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) period. In the first three and half decades of the 20th century the history of conservation can best be described as being characterized by a series of “dilemmas.” The British South Africa Company (BSA Co.) administration did not pursue soil conservation in any significant, synchronized or sustained manner. In the second period, from 1934 to 1965, there was considerable progress in the construction of conservation works on settler farms. This process was the result of recommendations made by Natural Resources Commission, a body that was appointed in 1938 to investigate the status of the colony’s natural resources. The mid-1940s were characterized by the formation of Intensive Conservation Areas (ICAs) in settler farming districts whose mandate was to oversee the construction of conservation works to rehabilitate settler farms. With the support of the Natural Resources Board (NRB), and the Department of Conservation and Extension (CONEX), formed in 1948 to provide expertise on conservation-related matters and extension support, all settler farming areas were covered by trained CONEX staff, though in most instances very thinly distributed due to high demand for their service and manpower constraints in the department. The third period, the UDI era, was characterized by attempts by the minority settler government to forestall majority rule in the colony. Malawi and Zambia (formerly Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, respectively) had been granted their independence by Britain in 1964. As decolonization was taking place in other parts of Africa, black majority rule in colonial Zimbabwe also seemed imminent. To the alarm of the white minority government, Britain had set out to grant majority rule to its African colonies, including Southern Rhodesia (renamed Rhodesia after Zambia’s independence). The Ian Smith-led government of Rhodesia, feeling betrayed, declared UDI on 11 November 1965, delaying Zimbabwean independence by another 15 years. With the end of the Federation in 1963, the colony could no longer rely on federal resources as it had done between 1953 and 1963. Sanctions, imposed in reaction to UDI, further put the regime in a tight corner. Their impact was quite significant. Fuel had to be rationed, and general belt-tightening across the board inevitably followed as major Rhodesian exports such as tobacco and minerals were embargoed on international markets. The start of the liberation war at the end of the 1960s further complicated matters. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Historical and Heritage Studies / Unrestricted