The Death of an Elephant: Conservation Discourses Versus Practices in Africa

Environmental conservation in Africa is predominantly presented by key actors in terms of a win–win discourse involving community participation and benefits. By using two case studies from Tanzania and South Africa, we demonstrate how the conservation practices observed do not fit the win–win discourse, but are more in line with the ‘fortress conservation’ that previously dominated both discourse and practice. The Tanzanian case shows how conservation practices may be associated with recentralization instead of devolution and economic marginalization instead of poverty alleviation. The South African case demonstrates that even in a clear‐cut case of fortress conservation, the rhetoric of the win–win discourse is applied. Furthermore, we argue that international conservationists as well as African authorities have their interests served by a presentation of conservation as advantageous to local people. Conservation NGOs are primarily concerned with extending large‐scale protection of landscapes even if poor people have to bear the costs. African governments also try to attract tourist investments. In addition, in the Tanzanian case, the wildlife sector provides an opportunity for personal rent‐seeking for government officials. Both conservation NGOs and African governments apply the win–win discourse to justify their interventions. One may argue, however, that practising the fortress approach might be counter‐productive to wildlife conservation, for instance by producing more opposition to conservation in the form of local killings of elephants.