Conserving Inequality. Subjugating black labour by accumulating and defending property in South Africa’s private nature reserves

Summary

Calls to increase private sector involvement in nature conservation come amid mounting concerns about global biodiversity that include habitat loss, species decline, and overexploitation of species – all further compounded by climate change. In this thesis, Lerato critically explores the implications of private sector involvement in the conservation of biodiversity in South Africa. She argues that through the reproduction of apartheid geographies and the development of new conditions for capital accumulation, private conservation in South Africa exacerbates and conserves inequality. The findings are significant because they bring to light the -often- invisibilised consequences of biodiversity conservation.