ABSTRACT
This chapter explores theoretical understandings of ethnicity and ethnic boundaries and their relevance for natural resource management issues. It discusses how ethnic distinctions gained relevance during the colonial era in areas on the fringe of protected areas in Southern Africa. The chapter shows how colonial governments reconfigured ethnicity by moving large numbers of people to distant areas already inhabited by other groups. It argues for recognition of ethnic diversity by natural resource planners working in areas adjacent to protected areas. The chapter examines the commonly used notion of 'community' in natural resource management from a socio-cultural angle, by developing a perspective on the ethnic configurations of people living within transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs). The chapter argues that ethnic heterogeneity is an important, and potentially disrupting, factor in TFCA governance by navigating between contradictory understandings of ethnicity as a marker of existing difference and a resource for creating difference.
