ABSTRACT
The semi-arid, diamond-rich coastal plain of Namaqualand in the north-western corner of South Africa is the stark setting of conflicting views on the potential for collaborative environmental governance. A desktop study in 2010 funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) identified Namaqualand as one of four case studies in Africa demonstrating that collaboration between a mining company and a conservation non-governmental organization (NGO) could contribute to significant conservation outcomes (Smuts 2010). The report argued that a partnership between Conservation International (CI), a Washington-based NGO, and De Beers, the world’s largest diamond mining and marketing company and owner of the largest mine in the area (called Namaqualand Mine), had made a ‘significant contribution … towards conservation planning in an internationally recognized biodiversity priority area (namely the Succulent Karoo hotspot)’ (Smuts 2010, p. 27). Furthermore, a ‘multi-pronged approach to the partnership, which assisted in rehabilitation, job creation and protected area establishment, assisted in realizing the conservation vision. CI engaged the local and provincial government authorities in tandem to engaging the mining company’ (Smuts 2010, p. 27).
