ABSTRACT
Parks exist within a matrix of evolving biophysical, social and economic landscapes. For this reason their performance must be assessed within the context of a shifting and increasingly complex set of objectives that have developed over the past century. On the one hand their relevance to society in southern Africa is under scrutiny. On the other hand a rapidly expanding tourism industry and the increasing competitiveness of wildlife as a productive land use have resulted in a rapid increase within southern Africa of wildlife-based enterprises and in the area of land devoted to wildlife conservation. This is not altogether surprising given that a very high proportion of southern Africa comprises arid and semi-arid rangelands and that the region's advantage lies in its unique and spectacular wildlife resources rather than in livestock production on its extensive rangelands. Current interest in wildlife-based land use is now more firmly supported by economic incentives than it was even 25 years ago.
