The political ecology of wildlife conservation and trophy hunting in human-dominated landscapes of southern Africa: a review

Abstract

Drawing from a historical conservation perspective and political ecology, this review mediates the growing debate on wildlife conservation and hunting, especially inhuman-dominated landscapes of Africa. The focus is to 1) trace how socio-political changes during and after colonization transformed the hunting and wildlife conservation discourse in southern Africa, and 2) to address how previous conservation injustices were addressed through benefit-based approaches like CAMPFIRE, adopted in Zimbabwe after colonization. Some 144 published journal articles, books and other source materials were consulted. The review indicates that political changes in southern Africa profoundly transformed the conservation and trophy hunting narrative. This narrative had varied impacts and outcomes for different groups of people. Although a number of benefit-based approaches, like CAMPFIRE reflected a complete departure from past conservation policies, they continue to attract praise and criticisms since opinions differ among stakeholders, especially over extractive activities like trophy hunting and its associated benefits. I conclude that political developments impacted on conservation and trophy hunting in a profound way and that although post-colonial, pro-community conservation programs have inherent weaknesses, to a greater extent they addressed past conservation-based injustices. Continuous monitoring and area-specific adaptive management of wildlife and its sustainable management is recommended for long-term conservation benefits and community livelihoods.