Module: POL6100-20 Conservation in Africa

Level: 6

Credit Value: 20

Module Tutor: Sian Sullivan

Module Tutor Contact Details: s.sullivan@bathspa.ac.uk

1. Brief description and aims of module:

Conservation in Africa’ encourages critical engagement with a range of approaches to wildlife conservation in Africa, and their consequences.  The module is built around detailed consideration of practical, technical and policy concerns shaping Conservation in Africa. It traces the trajectory of colonial ‘big game’ hunting that led to declines in animal populations and stimulated a demand for state and military protection of wildlife populations. It explores in detail the establishment of contemporary community-based approaches to conservation and tourism that seek to redress injustices caused by removing local and indigenous African peoples from wildlife-rich conservation areas. And it interrogates market-based approaches to conservation through analysing the creation of a series of conservation products such as wildlife trophies, forest carbon and ecosystem services.  

On completion of the module you will have gained a sophisticated understanding of the complexities of Conservation in Africa around a series of issues including: displacement and social justice concerns; human-wildlife conflict; species and ecosystem diversity; policy analysis; gendered aspects of wildlife conservation; indigenous knowledge; the development and implementation of Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) as a core contemporary conservation policy approach; market-based or ‘neoliberal’ approaches to conservation (including ecotourism, trophy-hunting and carbon offset markets); and the impacts of COVID-19 on conservation in Africa.  The module will equip you with the critical and practical understanding required for work in businesses, NGOs, charities and government agencies concerned with wildlife conservation. The module provides an advanced grounding in conservation concerns that is relevant for conservation theory and practice in non-African settings. It will also be of interest to students concerned with the ethics and politics of environmental management, and the design of projects and policies in environmental conservation locally and worldwide.

2. Outline syllabus:

The syllabus explores key concerns and underpinning ecological debates in ‘Conservation in Africa’ with a strong emphasis on case-study research that considers in detail practical conservation challenges ‘on the ground’. ‘Key concerns’ are drawn from topics such as: 

● Iconic National Parks and ‘The Big Five’;

● Colonialism and Conservation in Africa

● Parks, People and Displacement; 

● Community-Based Approaches to Conservation and Tourism; 

● Trophy-Hunting and Human-Wildlife Conflict; 

● African Indigenous Peoples and Conservation in Africa; 

● The Military and Conservation in Africa; 

● Conservation in Africa in a Post-COVID World.

‘Underpinning Ecological Debates’ are drawn from topics such as:

● Island Biogeography Theory and the Design of Conservation Areas;

● Pastoralism and Savanna Dynamics – Equilibrium or Non-equilibrium systems?;

● Key Issues for African Forest Ecosystems – Bush-meat, Timber, Carbon and Rights.

Two case studies from different African ecosystems are considered in detail, currently: 

1. ‘Historicising an Iconic African Conservation Area: The Changing Boundaries of Etosha National Park (Namibia)’, draws on research led from Bath Spa University (Future Pasts and Etosha-Kunene Histories) to place the changing fortunes of an iconic African National Park in historical context; 

2. ‘Who is on the Gorilla’s Payroll in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest? (Uganda)’ interrogates the economics and social justice implications of wildlife conservation linked with the Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) as a charismatic and keystone species.

3. Teaching and learning activities:

The syllabus is delivered primarily through a series of combined lecture-seminars exploring the themes outlined above. Classes are strongly interactive. They deploy pedagogical practices such as role-play exercises to encourage deep engagement with varied perspectives around conservation practices and their consequences, and debates to explore polarising perspectives that can lead to conflict in conservation practices.  Individual assessment is based on a research project considering key themes for a self- selected conservation initiative in a specific African context. Group engagement and learning is fostered through a module ‘symposium’ towards the end of the module, in which group presentations are co-assessed by staff and students.

Assessment Item 1:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Individual Research Project (4,000 words equivalent)

• % Weighting: 85%

Assessment Item 2:

• Assessment Type: CW

• Description: Group Policy Analysis Presentation in module symposium with student and staff assessment

• % Weighting: 15%