The place of community values within community-based conservation : the case of Driftsands Nature Reserve, Cape Town

Abstract

The most contemporary approach to biodiversity conservation within South Africa is that of community-based initiatives, which seek to combine biodiversity conservation with socioeconomic development. As a challenge to the Western, science laden approaches to conservation there is an increasing need for community initiatives to reflect the values of local communities. Values of local communities and the management body, CapeNature, with regards to Driftsands Nature Reserve, Cape Town, were captured and analytically coded through the qualitative methods of interviewing and participant observation in order to develop a grounded theory and model. A discussion of the expressed values suggests that community-based conservation initiatives are doing little to include community values even though there is a large degree of agreement between these and corporate values. As such, it is questioned whether community-based conservation can be practised within an organisation which, due to procedures and protocols, is top-down in its approach.