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National laws and policies can enable or confound adaptive governance: Examples from South African national parks

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  • Novellie, Peter
  • Biggs, Harry
  • Roux, Dirk

Abstract

There is growing appreciation that protected areas, like all social-ecological systems (SES), are inherently complex and face an unpredictable future under the influence of global environmental change. Adaptive management is the accepted approach for managing complex SES to ensure their resilience, but unless it is supported by a governance system that is itself adaptive it has little chance of success. Scholars have identified certain principles conducive to adaptive governance. Environmental legislation, an important component of the governance system, is often misaligned with these principles. In this paper we assess adaptive governance principles with regard to legislation governing South Africa’s national parks. This assessment indicates that, to enable adaptive governance and adaptive management, legislation should (1) be co-produced by policy-makers, policy implementers and users of protected area ecosystem services; (2) commit and empower management agencies to apply the principles of adaptive governance and adaptive management, particularly in the collaborative development of management plans; (3) commit agencies to review management plans and allow flexibility to adapt plans; (4) ensure that the temporal and spatial scales of the governance system match those of the SES being managed; (5) anticipate change and avoid assumptions of system stability and predictability; and (6) provide for flexible financing mechanisms, so that funds can be prioritised and timed to meet the unpredictable demands of complex systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Novellie, Peter & Biggs, Harry & Roux, Dirk, 2016. "National laws and policies can enable or confound adaptive governance: Examples from South African national parks," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 40-46.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enscpo:v:66:y:2016:i:c:p:40-46
    DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.08.005
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Khodani Matshusa & Llewellyn Leonard & Peta Thomas, 2021. "Challenges of Geotourism in South Africa: A Case Study of the Kruger National Park," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-23, October.
    2. R. Y. Alarcón Borges & Ofelia Pérez Montero & Rogelio García Tejera & María Teresa Durand Silveira & José Celeiro Montoya & Dayniel Hernández Mestre & Jorge Mesa Vazquez & Carlos Mestanza-Ramon & Dieg, 2023. "Legal Risk in the Management of Forest Cover in a River Basin San Juan, Cuba," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-28, April.
    3. Barry Ackers, 2024. "EL IMPACTO DE LA CAZA FURTIVA DE RINOCERONTES EN LA RENDICION DE CUENTAS DE UNA ORGANIZACION DE CONSERVACION FINANCIADA POR EL ESTADO(The impact of rhino poaching on the accountability disclosures of ," Revista Internacional de Gestión del Conocimiento y la Tecnología (GECONTEC), Revista Internacional de Gestión del Conocimiento y la Tecnología (GECONTEC), vol. 9(1), pages 65-81, March.
    4. Nieves Arranz & Carlos F. Arroyabe & Juan Carlos Fernandez de Arroyabe, 2019. "The effect of regional factors in the development of eco‐innovations in the firm," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(7), pages 1406-1415, November.
    5. Claudia Múnera-Roldán & Dirk J. Roux & Matthew J. Colloff & Lorrae van Kerkhoff, 2020. "Beyond Calendars and Maps: Rethinking Time and Space for Effective Knowledge Governance in Protected Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-21, August.
    6. Biggs, H.C. & Clifford-Holmes, J.K. & Freitag, S. & Venter, F.J. & Venter, J., 2017. "Cross-scale governance and ecosystem service delivery: A case narrative from the Olifants River in north-eastern South Africa," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(PB), pages 173-184.
    7. Nieves Arranz & Marta Arroyabe & Jun Li & Juan Carlos Fernandez de Arroyabe, 2020. "Innovation as a driver of eco‐innovation in the firm: An approach from the dynamic capabilities theory," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1494-1503, March.

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