Extractive philanthropy: securing labour and land claim settlements in private nature reserves

Abstract

At the centre of the conservation enterprise are the interactions of various actors who display a great deal of environmental ethic. Private landowners have embraced this ethic to protect their property rights and increase land value while contributing to the conservation of nature and to rural development. In this paper I draw examples from the lowveld in South Africa to argue that there is a seamless connection between philanthropy, labour and land claims in private nature reserves, and that post-apartheid conditions have enabled such a connection to emerge. Philanthropy allows private owners to structure and control labour, while directly or indirectly affecting the trajectory of land claims in the area.