Four perspectives on conservation in Africa

Social assessment as a key to conservationsuccessLarge tracts of Africa still remain in a natural state andthese areas offer potential for conservation. With this inmind, conservation biologists have used the bestavailable data and techniques to identify priorities forsafeguarding Africa’s impressive biodiversity (Burgesset al., 2004). However, progress with implementingconservation actions remains slow, and much more isknown about the ‘where’ than the ‘how’ of conservationin Africa.At the root of this tardy progress is the failure ofconservation scientists and practitioners, most of whomhave biological backgrounds, to comprehend fully thatachieving conservation goals is largely a matter ofhuman choice. Most conservation research in Africa, asin most other parts of the world, is concerned withassessments of biological features. However, socialissues and contexts (values, norms, institutions, organi-zations and human well-being), which underpin almostall of the opportunities and constraints for implementa-tion, are accorded much less priority, if addressed at all(Knight et al., 2006). Sustainable conservation requiresthat biodiversity concerns be mainstreamed into thebehaviour of individuals and organizations (Petersen H thus, itdelivers a clear description of the current and futurepressures on the biodiversity targeted by conservationassessments. Secondly, it reveals opportunities forlinking conservation actions synergistically with initia-tives in other sectors that have strong support, therebyenabling the mainstreaming of conservation concerns.Thirdly, it provides a realistic assessment of institutionaleffectiveness and organizational capacity; deficienciesin this regard are major constraints acting on theimplementation of conservation actions.Social assessments have several other advantages.Firstly, they invariably involve the input of local expertswhose participation can contribute substantially tosupport for the project. Secondly, an understanding ofhow humans interact with and value their naturalenvironments enables the identification of thosebehaviours that need to be reinforced or changed tosafeguard biodiversity. This, in turn, enables thetargeting and framing of actions specific to stakeholderswho are influential for conservation rather than, forexample, launching an extensive and costly educationalprogramme of uncertain effectiveness.Understanding the social context of opportunities andconstraints associated with conservation projects is, inour opinion, essential for the effective implementation ofconservation actions. Just as systematic biologicalassessments represent a defensible approach for identi-fying strategic conservation priorities (the ‘where’problem; Margules & Pressey, 2000), social assessmentsprovide the kinds of insights required to do conserva-tion (the ‘how’ problem). The case has been repeatedlymade for conservation science to embrace disciplines inthe social sciences, most recently by Balmford &Cowling (2006). Given the actual and potential conflictsbetween biodiversity and the imperatives of socio-economic development in Africa, the need for incorpor-ating social assessments into conservation projects is allthe more urgent.