'The Mkuze River it has crossed the fence'(1) - communities on the boundary of the Mkuze protected area
'The Mkuze River it has crossed the fence'(1) - communities on the boundary of the Mkuze protected area

Summary/Abstract: Restricting access to wilderness and wildlife resources is a contestedtopic in a time when developing nations are seeking to increase quality of life fortheir citizens. A case in point is the Mkuze Game Reserve which encompasses richbiodiversity and is surrounded by under-resourced rural communities. A historyof exclusion from land and resources has left local residents feeling negative aboutwestern conservation ideals. Perceptions of protected areas and conservation objectivesare important if management authorities are to affect a meaningful buy-into conservation and sustainable resource use among local residents. In this paper,part of a larger mixed-methods study, we set out to explore the perceptionsthree rural communities have of 1) local land-cover and livelihood change and 2)the socio-economic benefits expected and derived from living adjacent to MkuzeGame Reserve, a publicly administered protected area in KwaZulu-Natal, SouthAfrica. People living around the reserve felt they receive few benefits from livingnear to a protected area. Management countered that they are not well fundedenough to provide much development support. In addition to this, the communitysees a contrast between this lack of benefit sharing and the successful benefitsharing experienced by a neighbouring community which borders a privatereserve. This has added to their negative view of the way Mkuze Game Reservemanagement has been engaging with communities. Effective engagement withcommunities and understanding their expectations will be important for strengtheningconservation initiatives and community engagement objectives in the area.

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