Land reform and the promotion of collaborative community-based ecotourism

What is it about?

The issue of the land cannot be a campaigning issue. The issue of the land cannot be a rhetoric question. The issue of the land should be the issue of commitment.

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Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash

Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Land, land use, land contestations and land reform are common terms in Africa’s current affairs and news, due in part to the continent’s colonial heritage. Following decades of Apartheid, a regime that manifested itself through oppression and racially based land dispossessions, the post-Apartheid South African government established a platform for previously oppressed people to reclaim their land. Successful land claims on conservation areas by previously disenfranchised communities have often resulted in co-management agreements to pursue community-based ecotourism and enhance community livelihoods. This chapter adopts a Social Network Theory approach to examine the contributing factors for the collective success of Somkhanda Community Game Reserve in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, a community-based ecotourism project in a land-reformed community. It further highlights the importance of community social networking in building strong social capital for co-management of common-pool resources.

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