97
4
Despite these two challenges, the win-win discourse still constitutes the key perspective that is presented both by big conservation NGOs and by conservation
authorities in most countries in the Global South. In the following sections, we
present the practices identified in case studies from South Africa and India in order
to compare these practices with what the win-win discourse says.
Namaqua National Park in South Africa
After the establishment of the new democratic South Africa in 1994, land reform
was seen as an important means of fighting poverty and injustice. Namaqualand is a
dry region in the north-western corner of South Africa with a population of around
70,000 and covering approximately 48,000 km 2 . The population consists of ethnic
Nama, people of mixed origin, and a minority of European origin. The latter group
comprises approximately 20% of the population in this area. The former two categories of Namaqualand’s population were classified as ‘coloureds’ during apartheid.
Between 1798 and 1847, Namaqualand was annexed by the Cape Colony under
British rule. This colonial expansion displaced the original Nama population from
their traditional grazing areas and caused them to seek refuge at mission stations.
These stations were later transformed into so-called ‘Coloured Reserves’, equivalent
of what were known as ‘Bantustans’ or ‘Homelands’ in other parts of South Africa.
Since 1994, all of these areas have changed names and are now known as
Communal Areas. These are areas in which people have shared rights to agricultural
and grazing land. However, since these areas primarily served as labour reserves for
the mining industry and the white farmers, communal farmers have too little land
per person in order to make a living from farming or livestock keeping.
Prior to land reform, the communal areas of Namaqualand represented around
23% of the total area, while 400–450 white farmers owned farms covering 52% of the
land. The rest of Namaqualand consisted of mining land (7%), conservation areas
(4%), state-owned land (7%) and municipal land (7%). While land reform has led to
the redistribution of large farms to communal areas, the poor majority in
Namaqualand still lack access to land.
Around one third of the population of Namaqualand are involved in small-scale
sheep and goat farming. These people feel connected to the land as part of their
identity, and there has been a revival of Nama culture, identity and language since
the end of apartheid in 1994. Being Nama is no longer associated with negative concepts such as ‘Bushmen’, ‘Hottentots’ or ‘Coloureds’. Instead, the Nama have been
gaining recognition as an indigenous people (Penn 2004).
We see that the renaissance of Nama culture is closely tied to the question of
land. However, land reform and sustainability within Namaqualand’s agriculture are
also controversial topics debated by scientists, conservationists and activists. This
debate is centred on the protection of biodiversity on the one hand and the livelihoods and rights of poor people on the other hand. Natural scientists and conservationists point out that Namaqualand has a unique biological diversity. The area
contains more than 3500 plant species, and of these, approximately 25% are
endemic—for the most part succulent plants. As a result, Conservation International
4.4 · Challenges to the Win-Win Discourse
4
Despite these two challenges, the win-win discourse still constitutes the key perspective that is presented both by big conservation NGOs and by conservation
authorities in most countries in the Global South. In the following sections, we
present the practices identified in case studies from South Africa and India in order
to compare these practices with what the win-win discourse says.
Namaqua National Park in South Africa
After the establishment of the new democratic South Africa in 1994, land reform
was seen as an important means of fighting poverty and injustice. Namaqualand is a
dry region in the north-western corner of South Africa with a population of around
70,000 and covering approximately 48,000 km 2 . The population consists of ethnic
Nama, people of mixed origin, and a minority of European origin. The latter group
comprises approximately 20% of the population in this area. The former two categories of Namaqualand’s population were classified as ‘coloureds’ during apartheid.
Between 1798 and 1847, Namaqualand was annexed by the Cape Colony under
British rule. This colonial expansion displaced the original Nama population from
their traditional grazing areas and caused them to seek refuge at mission stations.
These stations were later transformed into so-called ‘Coloured Reserves’, equivalent
of what were known as ‘Bantustans’ or ‘Homelands’ in other parts of South Africa.
Since 1994, all of these areas have changed names and are now known as
Communal Areas. These are areas in which people have shared rights to agricultural
and grazing land. However, since these areas primarily served as labour reserves for
the mining industry and the white farmers, communal farmers have too little land
per person in order to make a living from farming or livestock keeping.
Prior to land reform, the communal areas of Namaqualand represented around
23% of the total area, while 400–450 white farmers owned farms covering 52% of the
land. The rest of Namaqualand consisted of mining land (7%), conservation areas
(4%), state-owned land (7%) and municipal land (7%). While land reform has led to
the redistribution of large farms to communal areas, the poor majority in
Namaqualand still lack access to land.
Around one third of the population of Namaqualand are involved in small-scale
sheep and goat farming. These people feel connected to the land as part of their
identity, and there has been a revival of Nama culture, identity and language since
the end of apartheid in 1994. Being Nama is no longer associated with negative concepts such as ‘Bushmen’, ‘Hottentots’ or ‘Coloureds’. Instead, the Nama have been
gaining recognition as an indigenous people (Penn 2004).
We see that the renaissance of Nama culture is closely tied to the question of
land. However, land reform and sustainability within Namaqualand’s agriculture are
also controversial topics debated by scientists, conservationists and activists. This
debate is centred on the protection of biodiversity on the one hand and the livelihoods and rights of poor people on the other hand. Natural scientists and conservationists point out that Namaqualand has a unique biological diversity. The area
contains more than 3500 plant species, and of these, approximately 25% are
endemic—for the most part succulent plants. As a result, Conservation International
4.4 · Challenges to the Win-Win Discourse