Community participation in the management of protected areas: exploring the challenges faced by marginalised rural communities in South Africa

Abstract

Community participation in protected areas management is one of the indices to engender justice and ensure that the needs of local communities are met. However, research suggests that in many protected areas, participation is devoid of equity and justice – and consequently, many rural communities remain on the margins of development. Against this background, this study explores the participation challenges faced by communities in Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve, Eastern Cape. The research objectives were 1) to examine the nature and dynamics of participation in the management of protected areas in the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve and its adjacent communities and 2) to explore challenges faced by local communities in participation in the management of protected areas. The study was qualitative in nature to allow the researcher to communicate with the participants and take part in the conversations during primary research. Data was collected from four villages through focus group discussions consisting of n=8 per each village resulting in N=32 participants. Four leaders and one manager from Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve participated in the interviews. The research found that the concept of participation means different things to different stakeholders and that several institutional and structural challenges face rural communities living adjacent to protected areas.

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Nyamahono. J. D., Akpan. W. and Umejesi, I. (2025). Community participation in the management of protected areas: exploring the challenges faced by marginalised rural communities in South Africa. African Journal of Social Work, 15(3), 23-35. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v15i1.3