André Pelser

Protected areas as vehicles in population development: lessons from rural South Africa

Protected areas in developing countries are increasingly expected to move beyond biodiversity protection so as also to contribute to poverty reduction and the economic development of their surrounding communities. The purpose of this article is to report on the key findings that emerged from the assessment of a poverty alleviation programme at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa and the lessons learned from that particular programme. Designed around outcomes analysis as an analytical framework for programme evaluation, a mixed-method approach of semi-structured interviews and focus-group sessions was used to collect data from amongst programme beneficiaries, the park management and members of the park’s advisory board. The findings indicate that although programmes of this kind can indeed impact positively on poverty levels, their direct impacts do however remain limited to a relatively small proportion of households in neighbouring communities. The article concludes that by conceptualising poverty as a multidimensional state of well-being, this allows for the exploration of a much broader range of potential social, cultural and economic benefits available from protected areas.

A PARTICIPATORY SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT PROCESS FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN LESOTHO

Sustainability assessment processes are increasingly being applied towards integration of the sustainability agenda within diverse decision-making jurisdictions. This paper seeks to contribute insights from a process undertaken within rural areas in Lesotho. A learning-by-doing and people-centred approach was explored within a qualitative multiple case study to integrate biodiversity considerations within the broader livelihoods sustainability context. Stakeholders collectively determined interpretations, aspirations and priorities for action planning and pathways that sustain biodiversity. This process yielded a functional context-specific sustainability assessment framework to guide stakeholders when embarking on biodiversity interventions that enhance supply of ecosystem services in and outside protected areas. However, the effectiveness of the process requires that it should be nested within an enabling environment characterised by relevant international and national biodiversity policy and strategic frameworks, decision- making structures, funding, tools and expertise, sensitisation and capacity-building.

The greying of a rainbow nation: Policy responses to the implications of population ageing in South Africa

The South African population is set to experience significant ageing in the decades to come; reaching the stage of having a formally ‘aged’ or ‘old’ population by 2025. This looming yet profound demographic change is already impacting in certain sectors and will place numerous pressures on many socio-economic and developmental fronts, requiring the reconfiguration of the country’s development agenda, aims, programmes and policy. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, this paper explores the demographic nature and socio-economic challenges of the ageing transition in South Africa and suggests some guidelines to improve policy responses targeting the implications of ageing. The paper concludes that South Africa will face a plethora of implications and challenges associated with population ageing, and recommends that further impetus be focused on enhancing programmes that facilitate the awareness of ageing implications as well as the mainstreaming of ageing concerns in public policy. Furthermore, more progressive research on the potential implications of ageing in a South African context should be initiated.

People, Parks and Poverty: Integrated Conservation and Development Initiatives in the Free State Province of South Africa

Conservation policy and practices over the past few decades have strongly emphasised the linkages between rural poverty and environmental degradation and, more specifically, the importance of reconciling the socio-economic needs and expectations of local communities with the objectives of biodiversity conservation and protected-areas management. Several international agencies and organisations, including the World Bank, World Wide Fund for Nature, The World Conservation Union, USAID and United Nations agencies, have come out in support of the idea that biodiversity-conservation programmes should take into account the socio-economic needs of the local population. Protected areas are thus increasingly expected to cross the boundaries of conventional biodiversity protection and take their place on the national development agenda by contributing to poverty reduction among rural communities adjacent to parks and reserves. In fact, over the past two decades or more, there has been growing recognition in conservation circles that national parks and other protected areas cannot be managed successfully without consideration for the subsistence and economic requirements of their neighbouring communities (Hulme & Murphree, 2001; Kothari et al., 1998; Naughton-Treves, 2005; World Parks Congress, 2003). With world leaders and development agencies increasingly coming out in support of poverty-alleviation initiatives, and the Millennium Development Goals – particularly the first of the eight goals – that aim to curb poverty significantly by 2015, it is important to understand and assess the role that protected areas may potentially play in this endeavour. This chapter explores one example of how a national park in the Free State Province of South Africa has reached out to its neighbouring communities in an attempt to channel conservation benefits to the local people and thereby to address some of the developmental needs of the population in the surrounding areas. More specifically, the chapter distils some of the key findings and lessons derived from a poverty-alleviation project at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park – a project that operates under the banner of the People and Parks Programme of South African National Parks (SANParks) and attempts to involve neighbouring communities in the conservation of biodiversity in a mutually beneficial fashion. The People and Parks Programme embodies the new policy framework of conservation authorities in South Africa – a policy that represents a significant change in philosophy from the conventional protectionist and fortress approach to conservation. In

VOTING WITH THEIR FEET: POPULATION TRENDS AND POLICY-MAKING IN THE FREE STATE

ABSTRACT Apartheid planning significantly influenced settlement patterns and urbanisation trends in South Africa. In many cases, black urbanisation was channelled to former homeland areas. With the demise of apartheid and the normalisation of black urbanisation, new trends started to emerge. This paper examines post-apartheid demographic trends in the Free State and argues that these aspects should be more rigorously considered in future regional planning. In essence, homeland growth has been replaced by the growth in small and medium-sized towns—mainly due to farm worker urbanisation. Despite this trend, large numbers of people are still residing in former homeland areas. The cultural connection with Lesotho also results in an influx of Lesotho citizens to the Free State. HIV/AIDS is and will remain prominent in the Free States future demographic trends. White people are also leaving the Free State in large numbers.

The missing link: Finding space for gerontology content into university curricula in South Africa

ABSTRACT The rapid increase in the global elderly population has been widely documented in both demographic and popular literature in recent decades. Population estimates produced by the national statistical service of South Africa in 2017 show that the proportion of elderly (60 years and older) in South Africa is growing fast, reaching 8.1% of the total population in 2017. The country is set to experience a doubling of the population over the age of 65 by the year 2020. Similar to their counterparts in the developed world, tertiary institutions throughout Africa too are faced with the challenge of training professionals capable of understanding and responding to the socioeconomic consequences, social priorities, and complex needs of an increasing aging population. The right set of policies can equip individuals, families, and societies to address the challenges of an aging population. After conducting an extensive literature review, we recommend that policy-makers in South Africa should look into ways that will enable them to meet the many challenges of an aging population in the coming decades. One way to address this issue would be to include gerontology content into the curricula of programs in the humanities and social sciences.

Mainstreaming sustainability into biodiversity conservation in Lesotho

Biodiversity conservation is critical for the continued supply of ecosystem services to secure the sustainability of livelihoods, especially for poor rural people in developing countries. Current rates of biodiversity loss need to be curbed by using effective interventions and decision-making that again require timely information. Undertaking a community sustainability assessment to generate and structure this information for grassroots levels is critical for decision-making and actions. This paper presents insights from a community sustainability assessment initiative undertaken in Lesotho within a trans-boundary project area known as the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Project. A qualitative case study approach was employed through a combination of several data collection techniques, including a literature review, field observations, key informant interviews, group discussions and key informant workshops. Study participants consisted of members of the community conservation forums from three districts that had been established by the project. Regarding progress towards the sustainability of biodiversity in the study area, the results indicated that current practices are unsustainable, more from the point of view of the socio-ecological components than the socio-cultural and spiritual or the socio-economic components. Consequently, there is a need to raise awareness at the community level and implement action plans to realize changes that support the sustainability of biodiversity in the long term.

HIV/AIDS and older adults in Cameroon: Emerging issues and implications for caregiving and policy-making

Abstract The burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) on the elderly population in three divisions within the Northwest Region of Cameroon was examined. Data for this paper were extracted from a larger study which had been conducted concerning the burden of HIV infection and AIDS on the older adults in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. Using in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs), data were collected from 36 participants who were purposively selected from the three divisions which had been chosen randomly. 6 FGD sessions were held with 30 women aged 60 years and above and who were affected by HIV infection and AIDS, while IDIs sessions were held with 6 male community leaders. The results revealed that HIV infection and AIDS has added another dimension to the role of older persons. HIV infection and AIDS affects older people in diverse ways, as they have to look after themselves, their sick children and are often also left to look after their grandchildren orphaned by HIV infection and AIDS. These emerging issues in their lives make them vulnerable to health, social, economic and psychological challenges, and place a burden on them as caregivers instead of being cared for in their old age. Apart from increased direct expenditures, taking care of victims of HIV infection and AIDS requires older people to stay away from social, religious and community activities. The results showed that the loss of a child to HIV infection and AIDS affects the economic/financial well-being, participation in social/religious interactions as well as the community activities of older people participants. The implications of these findings for caregiving and social policy are discussed.

Social and structural vulnerability as a barrier in HIV and/or AIDS communication campaigns: Perceptions of undergraduate students at a South African tertiary institution

The multicultural nature of a higher academic institution comprising students from different backgrounds can either negatively or positively influence student behaviour. Students might engage in high-risk practices, which in turn can make them vulnerable to HIV infection. Higher academic institutions are then tasked with finding strategies that can help to reduce this risk and vulnerability to HIV and/or AIDS. However, there are many issues and barriers, both from the institution and students, which can impede the success of any communication strategy. The University of the Free State’s main campus was selected for this study. A sample of 402 students from a total of 17 591 undergraduate students participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was randomly distributed to the undergraduate students. The sample was compiled across all faculties, as well as on campus and off campus. A transact walk on campus with an observation checklist was also used for triangulation purposes. The observation checklist helped to collect data on the visibility of male and female condoms in toilet facilities, and HIV and/or AIDS information on noticeboards, bins, stationery, billboards, etc. The main finding indicated that students were not knowledgeable about HIV and/or AIDS campaigns rolled out on campus. To support this, the observational transact walk results indicated that there were no visible campaigns on campus. Also, problems with existing communication and organisational barriers were found not only with the students but also with the implementation office. This study recommends that the university needs to engage with the students by identifying the root cause of their vulnerability. The university should explore and make use of all the available resources for a successful intervention, thereby building students’ resilience in preventing HIV infection.

Protected Areas and Ecosystem Services — Integrating Grassland Conservation with Human Well-Being in South Africa

In recent years development agencies and conservation organizations such as the World Conservation Union, World Bank, Birdlife International, the United Nations, the World Wide Fund for Nature and Fauna as well as Flora International, have served to reinforce a number of conservation practices and policies in which the link between natural conservation and improving the lives of rural communities has been piquantly accentuated. The central emphasis that has emerged from these accents is that protected areas – and national parks in particular-cannot be viewed as isolated from the economic and social context within which they are located. Worldwide – and particularly in the developing world – protected areas are progressively expected to navigate past the conventional primary focus on biodiversity protection to also, through the process of conserving biodiversity, contribute to improving the well-being of those communities adjacent to conservation areas through the delivery of social and economic benefits [1]. To be more precise, it has become essential that the goals of protected-areas management and biodiversity conservation become acquiescent with the socio-economic expectations and needs of local communities [2,3,4]. The very survival of such areas and the people surrounding it depends on a mutually beneficial interaction. In fact, protected areas have a powerful potential to markedly influence human well-being through the generation of social, environmental and economic initiatives that may benefit both protected areas as well as the local communities [5].