The resurgence in resource nationalism and private protected areas: through the lens of Save Valley Conservancy's indigenisation

Abstract

It has been observed that the resurgence in resource nationalism in the past decade worldwide has profound implications for all economic sectors including protected areas. However, a review of the international protected area literature reveals a paucity of studies that make use of the construct of resource nationalism as an analytical framework. This paper addresses this gap by bringing to the fore how Zimbabwe's ZANU PF (the political party that brought the country's independence in 1980) has deployed and extended this construct from the 2000 land reform programme to one of the world's largest private wildlife sanctuaries, namely the Save Valley Conservancy (SVC). In doing so, the paper relies extensively on the narratives, debates and legitimations of the ruling elite and other stakeholders around the recent ‘indigenisation’ of the SVC. It was found that a range of actors attempted to use resource nationalism as a ‘resource’ to further their own private economic and political interests whilst others resorted to the conservation discourse. One of the main conclusions of this paper is that managers of protected areas need to be sensitive to the resurgence in resource nationalism. In this connection, it is argued that the ability to negotiate the resurgence in resource nationalism will determine the fate of some private protected areas. The study suggests possible solutions around the indigenisation of SVC and points to future research priorities.