A Case Study of Conservation and Development Conflicts

Swaziland's Hlane Road

Bibliographic Data

ID4604672
AuthorsJeffrey D Hackel (corresponding author)
Year2001
Volume27
Issue4
Pages813-831
Publication date2001-12-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057070120090754
OpenAlexW2119899196
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

Integrated conservation and development projects are now being promoted as the best means to save wildlife in Africa. However, a case study in Swaziland provides a cautionary tale about the difficulty of reconciling the two; it also provides insight into how conservation politics were played out during the latter years of King Sobuza II's reign. In Swaziland in the late 1970s, a debate occurred about the upgrading of a major road in Swaziland's northeast. The decision was significant because the road under question bisected the country's primary conservation area: Hlane Game Sanctuary. The debate centred on the needs of economic development as opposed to nature conservation. Commercial interests wanted the road tarred; conservationists, on the other hand, believed that an upgrade would undermine their efforts to establish a viable nature conservation area in northeastern Swaziland. Instead, they favoured a new route that would be aligned west of the sanctuary but would cost significantly more than upgrading the established, low traffic volume, route. In the end, the road through Hlane was upgraded. This paper analyses the decision-making process, using archival and other written records, as well as interviews with many of the debate participants

Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Political science · Politics · Reign · Wildlife · Wildlife conservation · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Law · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation · Ecology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub