ABSTRACT
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) fifth World Parks Congress, held in Durban, South Africa, in 2003, marked the dawn of a new paradigm for protected areas (Phillips, 2003). In response to an increasing realisation that the establishment of protected areas could have high social costs that were borne disproportionately by local people (Ghimire and Pimbert, 1997; Adams et al., 2004; West et al., 2006), the theme of the congress was ‘Benefits Beyond Boundaries’, and for the first time debates about conservation's impact on wider society became mainstream (Roe, 2008). A key topic of the Congress concerned the role of protected areas in poverty alleviation, and it was agreed that in pursuing their goal of biodiversity conservation, conservation agencies should not increase poverty or undermine the livelihoods of the poor (Adams et al., 2004). The Durban Action Plan that emerged from the meeting contained targets to ensure that protected areas were established in full compliance with the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IUCN, 2003a), while the Durban Accord highlighted the need to involve those living near protected areas in their governance (IUCN, 2003b).
