Using anticipation to unveil drivers of local livelihoods in Transfrontier Conservation Areas: A call for more environmental justice
2023
Bourgeois, Robin | Guerbois, Chloé | Giva, Nicia | Mugabe, Prisca | Mukamuri, Billy | Fynn, Richard | Daré, William’s | Motsholapheko, Moseki | Nare, Lerato | Delay, Etienne | Ducrot, Raphaëlle | Bucuane, Joaquim | Mercandalli, Sara | Le Page, Christophe | Caron, Alexandre | Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement (UMR ART-Dev) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Montpellier (UM) | Département Environnements et Sociétés (Cirad-ES) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles [Dakar] (ISRA) | Nelson Mandela University [Port Elizabeth] | Reconciling Ecological and Human Adaptations for Biosphere Sustainability (REHABS) ; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL) ; Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Nelson Mandela University [Port Elizabeth] | Université Eduardo Mondlane = Eduardo Mondlane University = Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) | University of Zimbabwe (UZ) | University of Botswana (UB) | Savoirs, ENvironnement et Sociétés (SENS) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) | National University of Science and Technology [Bulawayo] | Gestion de l'Eau, Acteurs, Usages (UMR G-EAU) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-AgroParisTech-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Institut Agro Montpellier ; Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro) | Animal, Santé, Territoires, Risques et Ecosystèmes (UMR ASTRE) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Département Systèmes Biologiques (Cirad-BIOS) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | European Commission, Grant/Award Number: FED/2017/394-443
International audience
Show more [+] Less [-]English. Calling on the concept of environmental justice in its distributive, procedural and recognition dimensions, we implemented a coelaborative scenario building approach to explore sustainable livelihoods pathways in four sites belonging to two Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in southern Africa. Grounded on participation and transdisciplinarity, as a foundation for decolonised anticipatory action research, we aimed at stimulating knowledge exchange and providing insights on the future of local livelihoods engaging experts living within these TFCAs. Our results show that wildlife and wildlife-related activities are not seen as the primary drivers of local livelihoods, despite the focus and investments of dominant stakeholders in these sectors. Instead, local governance and land use regulations emerged as key drivers in the four study sites. The state of natural resources, including water, and appropriate farming systems also appeared critical to sustain future livelihoods in TFCAs, together with the recognition of indigenous culture, knowledge and value systems. Nature conservation, especially in Africa, is rooted in its colonial past and struggles to free or decolonise itself from the habits of this past despite decades of reconsideration. To date, the enduring coloniality of conservation prevents local citizens from truly participating in the planning and designing of the TFCAs they live in, leaving room for limited benefits to local citizens and often limiting Indigenous people's capacity to conserve. A practical way forward is to consider environmental justice as a cement between the two pillars of the TFCA concept, that is, nature conservation and socio-economic development of local or neighbouring communities, as part of a more broadly and urgent need to rethink the relationships between people in, and with, the rest of nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Institut national de la recherche agronomique