ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how people living on the edge of protected areas, and within transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs), have been considered in the evolving literature on conservation and development. It focuses on different ecological perspectives that underpin conservationists' arguments to establish transfrontier parks (TFPs) and TFCAs. The central tenet in the perspectives, that larger areas can support a greater biodiversity, provides the ecological basis for conservationists' plans to enlarge and connect conservation areas. The notions of ecological integrity, intact ecosystems and ecosystem processes also have a bearing on these rationales in both scientific and public perceptions of TFCAs. The establishment of TFPs and linking corridors, together with the removal of fences in some areas, has also been seen as a means of solving conservation problems such as the expanding numbers of elephants in protected areas.
