ABSTRACT
The tension between biodiversity conservation and land reform in most developing countries persists in part because of the well-established but ill-conceived tendency to treat land rights issues as inimical to nature conservation efforts. This chapter proposes environmental justice as an avenue through which this tension could be resolved to the benefit of both biodiversity and the people whose land rights have been violated through conservation projects. The chapter draws on case study materials from land claims in the Kruger National Park to make two related arguments. The first argument is that land restitution does not guarantee environmental justice. Such environmental justice instead hinges on the manner in which land claims are settled. The second argument is that environmental justice should first be freed from its North American historical roots if it is to enhance prospects for a just land reform in South Africa’s protected areas. In making these arguments the chapter seeks to contribute to approaches that hold the potential to narrow the gap between the goals of nature conservation and those of land restitution.
