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Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024.
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613911331635200 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | O’Donoghue, Thomas Luke |
| author2 | Lambrechts, Derica |
| author_browse | Lambrechts, Derica O’Donoghue, Thomas Luke |
| author_facet | Lambrechts, Derica O’Donoghue, Thomas Luke |
| author_sort | O’Donoghue, Thomas Luke |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/131874 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:43:40.048Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/131874 Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park O’Donoghue, Thomas Luke Lambrechts, Derica Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science. Nature -- Effect of human beings on Neoliberalism Conservation Conservation of natural resources National parks and reserves -- South Africa Hluhluwe Game Reserve (South Africa) Environmental management -- South Africa Protected areas -- Management -- South Africa UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2024. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The conservation of biodiverse ecosystems has been championed as a resolute mechanism to ensure the world’s natural spaces are sustained for future generations. The establishment of protected and conservational areas globally speaks to the intentions to conserve nature. Used as an instrument to limit human interaction and the extraction of natural resources within certain areas in the pursuit of conservation goals and preserving biodiverse landscapes, protected areas are now viewed as a force to shape a society’s cultural, economic, and political image. However, amid this support of conservation and protected areas, its successful practice is hindered by, amongst other things, the lack of adequate funding and financial resources. The continued need to source finance for conservation has meant that governments, inter-governmental organisations (IGOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private parties alike, have needed to generate revenue through various market-based instruments including ecotourism, and payments for ecosystem services (PES). Leveraging market demand for nature-based or environmental experience has allowed protected areas to generate revenue to sustain themselves, uplift local communities and broadly contribute to revenue generation for governments. This dependence for revenue is a symptom of the modern global political economy emanating from neoliberal ideology, which progresses privatisation, profit maximisation, and capital accumulation in the free market. Despite this inherent need for money, conservation and protected areas face a multitude of challenges ranging from resource management, the inclusion of a variety of domestic and international actors, and consolidating historical injustices while still pursuing environmental objectives. These factors place focus on the nature of protected area governance, and question whether the implication of neoliberal conservation has impacted its evolution. This study identifies implications of neoliberal conservation’s relationship with protected area governance, and whether the continued use of neoliberal mechanisms will be a sustainable strategy. The basis of the study revolves around the politics of nature and land, summarised within political ecology narratives, notably Conservation and Control espoused by Paul Robbins (2012). A qualitative methodology was applied, taking the protected area of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park in South Africa as a case study, given its rich history of in relation to the political, social, and conservationist spheres, and its need to be economically viable. The study aims to use theoretical frameworks from neoliberal conservation and political ecology to illustrate why market structures used to generate revenue are required in conservation, and how this impacts the nature of governance amid increasing pressures facing protected areas. This would broadly answer the question of ‘what roles do the state and non-state actors play in conservation?’. The study found that there is an ever-increasing need to secure funding for conservation which will come down to the continued exploitation of natural capital through ecotourism, nature-based tourism, and other mechanisms to generate revenue. Highlighting this dependency for money to ensure conservation’s sustainability illustrates complex implications on how areas reserved for nature intend to be governed in the future. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen Afrikaanse opsomming beskikbaar. Masters 2025-04-04T12:23:48Z 2025-04-04T12:23:48Z 2024-12 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/131874 Stellenbosch University 154 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Nature -- Effect of human beings on Neoliberalism Conservation Conservation of natural resources National parks and reserves -- South Africa Hluhluwe Game Reserve (South Africa) Environmental management -- South Africa Protected areas -- Management -- South Africa UCTD O’Donoghue, Thomas Luke Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park |
| title | Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park |
| title_full | Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park |
| title_short | Impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance: a case study of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park |
| title_sort | impacts of neoliberal conservation on protected area governance a case study of hluhluwe imfolozi park |
| topic | Nature -- Effect of human beings on Neoliberalism Conservation Conservation of natural resources National parks and reserves -- South Africa Hluhluwe Game Reserve (South Africa) Environmental management -- South Africa Protected areas -- Management -- South Africa UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/131874 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT odonoghuethomasluke impactsofneoliberalconservationonprotectedareagovernanceacasestudyofhluhluweimfolozipark |