Description
Book SynopsisPrivate wildlife conservation is booming business in South Africa! Nick Steele stood at the cradle of this development in the politically turbulent 1970s and 1980s, by stimulating farmers in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) to pool resources in order to restore wilderness landscapes, but at the same time improve their security situation in cooperative conservancy structures. His involvement in Operation Rhino in the 1960s and subsequent networks to save the rhino from extinction, brought him into controversial military (oriented) networks around the Western world. The author’s unique access to his private diaries paints a personal picture of this controversial conservationist.
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Maps List of Acronyms Maps Introduction: Focusing on the subjectivities and setting the interpretive scene An iconic species in nature conservation: the rhinoceros in Africa The personal archive of Nick Steele The aesthetics of landscape in nature conservation Methodological considerations Structure of the book Chapter 1: Picturing landscape… and what comes with it Game rangers’ memoirs and landscape Landscape construction ‘Camps’ in the landscape A metaphor of aestheticized landscapes: the Claude Mirror Conservation landscapes in South Africa Chapter 2: Rhino’s political role in wildlife conservation The idea of rhino Nick Steele and saving the rhino Networking with the military to save the rhino Nick Steele and the ANC-IFP struggle Rhino conservation as ‘bush war’ Rhino as Steele’s ‘totem’? Chapter 3: Longing for Zululand landscapes: Nick Steele transferred to Natal Steele transferred from Zululand Reserves to Natal Midlands Nick Steele on issues of race in South Africa Nick Steele’s disillusionment with Natal’s landscapes Nick Steele’s friendship with Mongosuthu Buthelezi Chapter 4: Private wildlife conservancies: providing security The Farm Patrol Plan: getting things started Game guards: the backbone of conservancies The success of the conservancy concept: going across national borders Recent trends in private wildlife conservation: game farming Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusions Acknowledgements and Brief Methodological Reflections References Index
