Geography

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Browsing Geography by Author "Brooks, S. J."

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    Land beneficiaries as game farmers in the "new" South Africa : land reform in relation to conservation, the hunting industry and chiefly authority in KwaZulu-Natal
    (University of the Free State, 2012-02) Ngubane, Mnqobi Mthandeni; Brooks, S. J.
    In South Africa, as in other parts of the continent and beyond; land claims on nature conservation land have in many cases become part and parcel of Community-Based Conservation (CBC) and related discourses such as Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). This thesis investigates key socio-spatial and political dynamics involved in the acquisition of private game farms by land reform beneficiaries. This acquisition of private game farms by land reform beneficiaries has in many cases given rise to the so called community game farms/reserves. The two community game farms/reserves studied here are the Ngome Community Game Reserve and Nqabayamaswazi Game Farm in KwaZulu-Natal. The two community game farms are managed by community trusts in partnership with the KZN Hunting and Conservation Association (KZNHCA), a private partner which has in return gained hunting rights on the community game farms. From a scientific wildlife management context, the role of KZNHCA in community game farms is based on a need to transfer „expert‟ wildlife management skills to land beneficiaries. In the process, KZNHCA seeks to align community game farms with their previous status as private game farms in terms of economic benefit and wildlife conservation. But, is it realistic to expect that community game farms will resume their old form, from a time when they were managed as family businesses, holiday homes and leisure havens? The thesis explores the processes involved in the continuation of game farming by land beneficiaries and the extent to which community game farming was „imposed‟ on beneficiary communities by their representatives, namely: community trusts, chiefs and the former DLA for continuities in land use and „wildlife production‟- after the land transfer. The role of chiefs in community game farming is explained by paying close attention to their vanguard roles in land reform, leading to an increase of land under their control. Land beneficiary perceptions‟ towards this role of chiefs raises important questions of democracy in the countryside against provisions of the Communal Property Association (CPA) Act partly designed to curtail the power of chiefs on land acquired through land reform.
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    Private wildlife governance in a context of radical uncertainty: dynamics of game farming policy and practice in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2016-04) Kamuti, Tariro; Veenswijk, M. B.; Visser, G. E.; Brooks, S. J.; Spierenburg, M. J.
    Conversion from livestock and/or crop farming to game farming has been a notable trend on privately owned land in South Africa over the last decades. This change has been characterised by the fast growth of wildlife ranching, reflected in the annual increase in land enclosed by game fences and the high demand for wildlife which is being traded privately and at wildlife auctions. Key environmental and agricultural legislation has been passed since 1994 that impacts the wildlife sector, for instance, legislation on property rights, (re)distribution of resources, and biodiversity conservation in South Africa. The study sought to investigate the extent to which the state is able to impose effective controls over land use activities related to wildlife conservation on private land, and to explore in detail how governance processes actually work on the ground in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The study explores how the private game farming industry positions itself with respect to existing agricultural and environmental regulations, as well as how the state is responding to the challenge of competing needs over land and wildlife resources that is posed by the game farming sector. The basis of the study was to unravel findings that show interactions, discourses, policy positions, and power relations of stakeholders in the governance of game farming. Realising the importance of the link between environmental governance and institutions, the thesis uses the idea of institutional bricolage by Frances Cleaver to explore the governance of private game farms through various institutional arrangements. Cleaver contends that formal institutions created through abstract principles are not the primary means through which tensions inherent in the use of natural resources are resolved. Greater focus was therefore placed on how rules, norms and shared strategies get stitched together through repetitive interactions by actors involved in game ranching. Critical realism was the guiding ontological philosophy for this study. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews with key informants from major stakeholder organisations and communities linked to the private wildlife sector in KwaZulu-Natal province. I also collected data through visits to game farms and private wildlife reserves, and acted as an observer at game auctions, workshops and conferences. Documentary evidence collected also served as primary data. Critical discourse analysis (which in this study also incorporates political discourse analysis) was the major analytical framework. Evidence presented in this study points towards the fractured state in the governance of the private game farming sector. The state is not a homogeneous and monolithic entity uniformly applying itself to the regulation of the sector. There is no clear direction on the position of private game farming at the interface of environmental and agricultural regulations. The state lacks a clear vision for the South African countryside as shown by the outstanding land restitution and labour tenant claims on privately owned land earmarked for wildlife production. Instead, role players in the game farming sector are using the available governance arrangements to position themselves strategically for their own benefit, even though some of their activities cause tension. In that process, the private wildlife industry has completely changed the landscape of nature conservation in South Africa. In KwaZulu-Natal the long standing cordial relations between conservation authorities and private landowners have worked to the advantage of the private landowners. The study argues that this transformation of the institutional processes mediating the governance of the private game farming sector has been a long and enduring arrangement emerging organically over time. Changes in the regulatory regime through new laws, amendment of existing laws and unbalanced implementation of existing laws creates an environment of considerable uncertainty for the game farmers who are the major role players in the wildlife sector, yet within this context private landowners do retain significant space for manoeuvre.