The article explores theoretically the juxtaposition of local stories about landscape with institutional arrangements and exclusionary practices around a conservation area in South Africa. The... Show moreThe article explores theoretically the juxtaposition of local stories about landscape with institutional arrangements and exclusionary practices around a conservation area in South Africa. The Masebe Nature Reserve is used as a case study. The article argues that the institutional arrangements in which the nature reserve is currently positioned are too static, and consequently exclusionary, in their demarcation of boundaries. This stifles local communities’ sense of belonging to these landscapes. Hence, they strongly resent and feel alienated by the nature reserve. Their opposition and alienation often manifests in poaching. The empirical material is based on how local people living adjacent to the Masebe Nature Reserve have historically named and interpreted the area’s impressive sandstone mountains, in the process creating a sense of belonging. Juxtaposing this mostly tranquil cultural reading of the landscape to the institutional practices of boundary demarcation gives the analysis an immediate critical edge regarding issues of social justice Show less
Private wildlife conservation is booming business in South Africa! Nick Steele stood at the cradle of this development in the politically turbulent 1970s and 1980s, by stimulating farmers in Natal ... Show morePrivate wildlife conservation is booming business in South Africa! Nick Steele stood at the cradle of this development in the politically turbulent 1970s and 1980s, by stimulating farmers in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) to pool resources in order to restore wilderness landscapes, but at the same time improve their security situation in cooperative conservancy structures. His involvement in Operation Rhino in the 1960s and subsequent networks to save the rhino from extinction, brought him into controversial military (oriented) networks around the Western world. The author's unique access to his private diaries paints a personal picture of this controversial conservationist. Show less
Certains éléments des forces de sécurité sud-africaines ont mis en exploitation les ressources naturelles au profit de leurs stratégies de déstabilisation politique et d'enrichissement. Ils ont... Show moreCertains éléments des forces de sécurité sud-africaines ont mis en exploitation les ressources naturelles au profit de leurs stratégies de déstabilisation politique et d'enrichissement. Ils ont ainsi réussi à établir des réseaux très développés de contrebande de produits naturels de valeur (ivoire, gemmes, cornes de rhinocéros, drogue), servant à financer les aides militaires livrées par l'Afrique du Sud aux mouvements contra-révolutionnaires en Afrique australe et sont parvenus à infiltrer en profondeur le WWF International. Désormais bien implantées au Parc Kruger, ces mêmes forces anti-insurrectionnelles participent à des actions politiques au sein même de l'Afrique du Sud et pourraient éventuellement constituer dans ces réserves de véritables zones militarisées. Notes, réf., rés. en français et en anglais (p. 165). (Publié en anglais dans: Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 20, no. 1 (1994), p. 53-69, sous le titre: Of elephants and men: politics and nature conservation in South Africa.) Show less
