Conservation for development : a literature study of the socioeconomic effects of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area

Abstract: Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are considered a suitable strategy to combine nature conservation and poverty alleviation in southern Africa, usually through ecotourism. There have, however, been critical voices questioning whether this is actually succeeding. Many researchers claim that the conservation and tourism efforts are leaving the local communities at greater risks of impoverishment rather than helping them. This study consults previous research to examine this issue through the examples of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), and the communities living close to its National Parks in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The methodology used is a systematic literature study of 26 secondary sources. The study finds that the previous research reveals that the experiences of the communities vary between different areas in the TFCA. The general feeling is that of displacement in different ways, except in those communities that have found ways of empowering and developing themselves; through tourism schemes. Otherwise, the attitude from the authorities in the national parks of the TFCA seems to be that the conservation and tourism efforts in the area are given priority over the local residents’ needs. Theories such as systems ecology, sustainable development and deep ecology may have answers to this issue on paper, however judging from the reality presented in the literature used in this study they are not realistic in practice. What is obvious is that economic interests are prioritized in the GLTFCA just as in the rest of the world.