Land reform in South Africaʹs national parks: a catalyst for the human–nature nexus

The most formidable challenge to conservation policies has been to reconcile human needs and conservation imperatives. Strategies to deal with that challenge impacted on the relationships among humans on the one hand, and between humans and nature on the other. Conservation history shows the development of persistent enmity between conservation authorities and local communities. Against this backdrop, the present paper examines land claims in South Africaʹs national parks as a process of redress. The paper shows that, contrary to views that land reform is a threat to conservation, land claims in national parks and nature reserves contributed significantly towards a shift from a preservationist conservation approach in South Africa.