Publisher Description

A new, interdisciplinary look at the practices and policies of conservation in Africa is presented in this volume. For the first time social scientists, anthropologists, and historians have been brought together with biologists, in order to illuminate previously neglected yet critically important social aspects of conservation thinking. The book is introduced by an overview of African conservation in the past, present, and future. There are sixteen papers on a wide range of topics from wildlife management to soil conservation, and from the Cape in the nineteenth century to Ethiopia in the 1980s. These collectively show that conservation must form an integral part of future policies for human development. To date, conservation has been largely the domain of the biologist, but the current ecological crisis in Africa and the failure of orthodox conservation policies demand a radical new appraisal of conventional practices. This, therefore, is essential reading for all those concerned about people and conservation in Africa.

Table of Contents

Preface; List of contributors; Introduction: the scramble for Eden: past, present and future in African conservation David Anderson and Richard Grove; Part I. Conservation Ideologies in Africa: Introduction William Beinart; 1. Early themes in African conservation: the Cape in the nineteenth century Richard Grove; 2. Chivalry, social Darwinism and ritualised killing: the hunting ethos in Central Africa up to 1914 John M. MacKenzie; 3. Colonialism, capitalism and ecological crisis in Malawi: a reassessment John McCracken; 4. Conservation with a human face: conflict and reconciliation in African land use planning Richard Bell; Part II. Wildlife, Parks and Pastoralists: Introduction Paul Howell; 5. Pastoralism, conservation and the overgrazing controversy Katherine Homewood and W. A. Rodgers; 6. Pastoralists and wildlife: image and reality in Kenya Maasailand David Collett; 7. Integrating parks and pastoralists: some lessons from Amboseli W. K. Lindsay; 8. The Mursi and National Park development in the Lower Omo Valley David Turton; Part III. Conservation priorities and rural communities: Introduction John McCracken; 9. Local institutions, tenure and resource management in East Africa Peter D. Little and David W. Brokensha; 10. Conflicting uses for forest resources in the Lower Tana River basin of Kenya Francine Hughes; 11. Environmental degradation, soil conservation and agricultural policies in Sierra Leone, 1895–1984 Andrew Millington; 12. Managing the forest: the conservation history of Lembus, Kenya, 1904–63 David Anderson; Part IV. Consequences for Conservation and Development: Introduction John Lonsdale; 13. The political reality of conservation in Nigeria Olusegun Areola; 14. Settlement, pastoralism and the commons: the ideology and practice of irrigation development in Northern Kenya Richard Hogg; 15. Approaches to water resource development, Sokoto Valley, Nigeria: the problem of sustainability W. M. Adams; 16. State policy and famine in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia: the lessons for conservation Maknun Gamaledinn; Index.

Review

'The main achievement of this volume is in giving us a more comprehensive account than we have hitherto possessed of European conservation ideologies and their place in the colonial history of Africa. It is impossible in a short review to do justice to the many excellent papers here. This is a very valuable book.' Journal of African History 'This book heralds what should become the new era of conservation practice in Africa ... an important contribution to conservation literature.' African Affairs

Review Quote

'This book heralds what should become the new era of conservation practice in Africa ... an important contribution to conservation literature.' African Affairs

Description for Bookstore

This inter-disciplinary look at the practice and policies of conservation in Africa brings together social scientists, anthropologists, historians and biologists. The new approach to conservation, the book argues, not only depends on the survival of species and habitats but is also intimately tied to the future of African rural communities.

Description for Library

This inter-disciplinary look at the practice and policies of conservation in Africa brings together social scientists, anthropologists, historians and biologists. The new approach to conservation, the book argues, not only depends on the survival of species and habitats but is also intimately tied to the future of African rural communities.

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