The blog, written by Lindie Botha and entitled Sustainable Use in the Greater Kruger, with the tagline Publics, parliaments and lots of drama*, appeared in Timbavati Guest Blogger Series: The Conservation Conversation. It’s about how the debate around sustainable use is framed rather than some kind of consensus definition of sustainable use as a development model.
Extract: It’s been a busy February. Journalists and activists have had a lot to talk about since the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs met recently to inquire into the “benefit-sharing agreement in the western boundary of the Kruger National Park between SANParks, APNR and communities.” This meeting, like the one in August 2018, reflected much tension between the Committee and the conservation establishment – SANParks and the private reserves that share an open boundary with Kruger National Park. Hunting and its contribution to local socio-economic development was a bone of contention. Private reserves claim they need the proceeds of hunting to fund the management of their reserves; detractors say it is a corrupt industry that enriches a small elite.
The blog goes on to read that it “is not about whether hunting is good for conservation. Or whether private reserves truly enhance the livelihoods of their neighbouring communities. It is about the power of words.”
