THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
4.2 RESEARCH SETTING: OVERVIEW OF THE CASE
4.2.1 A brief history of formal conservation in KwaZulu-Natal
Conservation in KZN has evolved from the pre-colonial era when the Nguni tribes enacted measures that protected wildlife by way of controlling, among others, access and use (Player 1999). However, formal conservation in KZN can mainly be traced back to 1947 when the former Natal Parks Board (NPB) was established as a parastatal conservation agency responsible for conservation in both protected areas and outside (Hughes 2001). Establishment of the NPB was largely motivated by a desperate attempt by the provincial government to curb widespread poaching and the unsustainable use of wildlife. Nearly 30 years later, another conservation organization, namely KwaZulu Directorate of Nature Conservation (DNC) was established. Apartheid ensured that these two organizations operated independently of each other and held different views about conservation. Until 1998, conservation in KZN was managed by these two agencies.
In essence, there was in one region of South Africa two conservation bodies, with fundamentally different philosophies resulting from the contexts in which they operated, their interpretation of their roles and by extension, how they operated . This duality ended when the two agencies were finally amalgamated11 in a protracted process which started after the democratization of South Africa in 1994. No single factor underpinned the transformation process for new institutional and organizational forms in conservation. Two sets of factors seem to have motivated the KZN conservation and environmental management sector transformation process: firstly, the significant deficiencies of the previous system which limited its ability to meet the moral, social and economic demands of the new South Africa and KZN; and secondly, a context of emerging provincial, national and global opportunities and challenges.
Significant deficiencies in the conservation sector
In general, the previous system allowed polarization of responsibilities and perpetuated an inefficient, inequitable distribution and use of limited available resources (Joubert 1995). Lack of appropriate regulatory frameworks caused by a long history of fragmentation and weak accountability prevented planning and coordination. This in turn resulted in waste, duplication and prevented the implementation of effective monitoring and evaluation measures. A strong and almost preordained inclination towards 'closed- system' conservation practices and initiatives led to inadequately contextualized conservation practice, research and understanding of critical success factors such as management effectiveness of protected areas and engagement with stakeholders (Joubert 1995). Also, the previous duality in the conservation sector replicated racial divisions, which were triggered and sustained by wide-ranging policies compatible with the apartheid regime. Conservation policies, structures and institutions were in many respects inappropriate for the new era, meaning they were at best likely to make minimal
The NPB worked in the Natal area, mainly populated by white communities who were socio-
economically far better off than the rural people of Zululand - the former operation area for the DNC. Note that the NPB had a strong presence in Zululand, but its activities were limited to the long-established game reserves.
11 Prior to this, there was an amalgamation with the conservation section of Forestry (national department), but this fact is not the focus here.
contributions to the democratic dispensation's imperatives. Thus, there was a serious mismatch between conservation's output and the evolving needs of the province of KZN.
In short, the need to transform the conservation sector in KZN arose from the feeling that the conservation system, and its institutions and structures could not sufficiently meet the needs and challenges of a democratic society nor could it effectively meet the biodiversity conservation goals without a fundamental transformation of the sector (Joubert 1995). Limited human and financial resources to maintain a polarized and fragmented institutional configuration whose modus operandi and expected output were incompatible was another critical consideration. Therefore, a transformed conservation system promised to be socially just and equitable in its distribution of benefits and opportunities, both internally and externally. Such a system needed to meet the requirements of long term sustainability and enhance the productivity of KZN ecological systems through meeting the biodiversity conservation challenge, conservation partnerships, scientific research and other attendant needs (Joubert 1995). These are some of the sentiments ind discussions of the need for a new conservation culture.
Emerging realities, opportunities and challenges
After a period of prolonged isolation and insularity, the conservation sector was expected to embrace the reality of pluralism, transparency and accountability. This new reality was brought about by the accelerating changes in social and political values and attitudes. Of critical significance were the fast changing national and international developments of the environmental ethos and shifting and expanding societal expectations (Joubert 1995).
These developments and expectations moulded the structures and institutional arrangements that in turn added to the dynamics of conservation to levels never witnessed before.
Conservation faced twin demands: on the one hand, there was a socio-political demand for the equitable distribution of conservation benefits, especially to local communities because they were previously denied such benefits. On the other hand, there was a socio- political and economic demand for a highly relevant conservation agency with broad
capabilities, skills and competencies to enable it to perform better at satisfying the multiple but intricately linked expectations for biodiversity conservation (EKZNW 2002).
Against this backdrop, the provincial administration, led by the Premier's office and supported by the provincial parliament believed that these demands, coupled with those of co-operative governance12 and goal directed funding (through state subsidies and conditional grants while the agency strove towards realistic levels of self-sufficiency) provided a framework for transforming the conservation sector in KZN. The Provincial administration set out to transform the institutional structures required to deal primarily with the functions of the environment and nature conservation in line with the Constitution, while addressing concerns around legitimacy, transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness. Resultant proposals for conservation management:
• provided for expanded access to biodiversity conservation benefits by communities within a context of limited if not declining state funding towards conservation,
• suggested the establishment of a single co-ordinated conservation system that would replace the dual organizational arrangement and would improve management of the new single system,
• suggested and recognized the expanded role of conservation in contributing to meeting the province's ever growing but interrelated development needs, and
• stressed the fundamental importance of research, partnerships and eco-tourism and their vital contribution to the province and country's biodiversity system through a national protected areas system.
Furthermore, detailed principles were developed to guide the transformation process of conservation in KZN (Appendix 1). Two critical issues stood out in giving effect to the vision of transforming of conservation: increased participation and a single co-ordinated system of conservation. Increased participation was considered to be a precondition for meeting the interlinked imperatives of equity, redress and development while not losing sight of the goals of conservation (Joubert 1995). Fragmentation and insularity, which
12 This philosophy is contained in the Constitution (RSA 1996) and calls on different government departments at different levels to work together in delivering goods and services to the people of South Africa.
had for a long time bedevilled KZN conservation needed to be eliminated, as they were regarded as potential barriers to a new order in the conservation sector in the long term.
But it was stressed that transformation needed to occur within the context of a clear policy and legal framework for conservation, linked to capacity, empowerment, enhanced quality of life and provincial and national conservation needs and development challenges at a landscape level as opposed to focusing on protected areas alone (Joubert
1995). The effective management of protected areas was nevertheless not to be dispensed with. Proposals aimed at enhancing efficiency by means of co-ordination and rationalization were made for the merger of KZN's two conservation organizations with a view to:
• ensuring that planning addressed mismatches and inconsistencies between conservation outputs and local, provincial and national needs; and
• establishing a restructured conservation sector and improved provincial co- ordination to make optimal use of existing facilities and to reduce fragmentation.
Amalgamation was identified as a prerequisite for the desired single co-ordinated system of conservation. Such a system was deemed necessary to help streamline governance and planning processes as well as to mitigate inappropriate legacies. A single co-ordinated system would also provide opportunities for increased participation in decision-making and sharing of benefits at different levels. Implementing the above-mentioned and related proposals made the conservation sector experience severe and unparalleled turbulence in its history in KZN.
Amalgamation was finally effected in 1998 and the resultant body was the KwaZulu- Natal Nature Conservation Service (KZNNCS) which was later renamed EKZNW.
After amalgamation, the new organization assumed responsibility for the province's 110 terrestrial protected areas. Amalgamation simultaneously presented new challenges of both internal integration and external adaptation. Internally, the new
organization was faced with a bloated staff establishment that took up nearly 80% of the annual budget13 (EKZNW 2001, Goodman 2002).
This financial situation "was complex, but in essence the amalgamation had caused an imbalance in the ratio between the salary and operational components of the budget - too many staff with too few resources to operate effectively" (Goodman 2002: 2). The desire to address the funding problem led to restructuring and retrenchments with a view to realign resource allocation to various operational sectors of the organization.
Because amalgamation, restructuring and retrenchments occurred successively within a short period, staff within the organization were exposed to a period of turmoil.
Externally, the organization found itself having to address issues that might superficially have appeared remote to its work, but were critically relevant for its survival in the province, e.g. community development initiatives. Most of the issues were thought of as contributing to the province's economic and development imperatives (Msthali 2001, EKZNW 2002). Essentially, this meant that conservation had to be responsive to policy imperatives from both the provincial and national governments and prove its worth to deserve any further funding from the state. This was, and continues to be the reality not only for EKZNW, but also for the other conservation agencies at both provincial and national levels in South Africa. In addition, conservation has found itself increasingly faced by challenges which were rooted in the country's past discriminatory practices such as land dispossession, and faced by the need to respond to them in ways that are appropriate under the new socio-political order.
In such a changed context, EKZNW has had to develop new strategies to ensure its survival and relevance. Doing this, however, as in most organizations, cannot necessarily be expected to sit well with long established values, practices and cultural dispositions (Kotter 1996). While the leadership of the organization, at the level of artefacts and espoused values might show a resolve to pursue new strategies, the
13 There is need to be cognizant of the fact that other priorities which had not been previously equitably and effectively addressed under apartheid such as education, job creation, health, water and housing ranked high for the
democratically elected provincial and national governments.
shared hidden assumptions, which constitute the 'corporate conscious', might not necessarily easily accept the new strategic directions. It was from this philosophical perspective that this study was conceptualized with a view to understanding the tensions and complexities of perceptions around strategy among senior employees as EKZNW sought to pursue new strategic directions to ensure both its own survival and relevance to the multiple constituencies it has to serve.