Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa

Thondhlana, Gladman; Shackleton, Sheona E; Blignaut, James

Title: Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa
Creator: Thondhlana, Gladman
Creator: Shackleton, Sheona E
Creator: Blignaut, James
Date Issued: 2015
Date: 2015
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67689
Identifier: vital:29130
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
Description: Publisher version
Description: Crafting local institutions to allow more effective decision-making in the management of and access to natural resources in and beyond parks has long been considered key to collaborative governance. South Africa, in particular, has vigorously pursued collaborative governance as a desired approach to managing natural resources as evident in the new arrangements for previously restricted parks. However, though the discourse of collaborative governance has occupied conservation thinking and practice globally, few studies have looked at the interplay between local institutions, actors and collaborative governance involving indigenous hunter–gatherer communities in Southern Africa. In response, we assess the local actors and institutions that were put in place to facilitate collaborative governance of natural resources in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its surrounds in South Africa. Our findings show that though collaborative governance has a practical appeal, it is hampered by lack of participation in decision-making, information dissemination, transparency, trust and accountability, power relations, divergent interests and unequal access to natural resources. The findings also draw our attention to issues of heterogeneity, even within indigenous communities assumed to be homogenous by local conservation authorities as reflected in land settlement agreements in co-managed parks. We argue that collaborative governance arrangements need to reflect and be understood within the broader background of complex local realities.
Format: 9 pages
Format: pdf
Publisher: Elsevier
Language: English
Relation: Land Use Policy
Relation: Thondhlana, G., Shackleton, S. and Blignaut, J. (2015) Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa. Land Use Policy, 47, 121-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
Relation: Land Use Policy volume 47 number 121 129 2015 0264-8377
Rights: Elsevier
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the National Library of South Africa Copyright Act (http://www.nlsa.ac.za/downloads/Copyright Act.pdf)

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Thondhlana, Gladman (Dr)

Shackleton, Sheona (Prof)

RU Department of Environmental Science

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SDG 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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