Living Landscapes in Action

It has been designed to overcome fundamental problems with mainstream forms of conservation in South Africa and globally: they separate people from biodiversity through an emphasis on fences and protected reserves; they embrace rather than challenge economic models that maintain and often even worsen inequalities and injustices; and, ironically, they do all this while promoting forms of growth that hurt people and biodiversity.

Convivial conservation is different, and based on two foundational principles. The first is to see conservation as a mechanism to transform the economy, one that aligns human needs with those of the rest of life. The second principle is to acknowledge that people are and have always been a part of nature and that diverse natures need to flourish more freely in human landscapes.

We therefore take ‘convivial’ seriously: it literally stands for a vision where conservation allows everybody to ‘live with’, enjoy and care for the rest of nature – not just those who can afford it. The Living Landscapes project promotes this vision by disrupting mainstream forms of conservation, by transforming conservation ideas, practices and networks and by renewing conservation to become an inclusive, just and sustainable sector. It focuses these elements on the sector as a whole and – for now – on three specific landscapes: Mapungubwe, iSimangaliso and Cape Town.