Rethinking Land Reform in South Africa: An Alternative Approach to Environmental Justice

Abstract

Worldwide, millions of rural people inhabiting marginal lands have been evicted from their homes in the name of conservation. Africa is no exception, nor is South Africa, the focus of this paper. Our central concern is whether land reform in South Africa can accomplish both social and environmental justice in a context of widespread and longstanding human displacement and opportunity costs as the country's national parks and game refuges expand. The costs of ecological expropriation are illustrated, as are instances from other countries where land reform simultaneously serves social and environmental objectives. Recommendations are advanced for greening South Africa's land reform without sacrificing its social and economic missions.