WAG-CEAD Alliance: Commitment to
Wilderness Training and Protection in
Southern Africa
W. D. Densham
R. J. Fincham
Abstract—The partnership formed between the Wilderness Action
Group (WAG), the Centre for Environment and Development
(CEAD)-University of Natal, and the partners of both organizations
promotes an exciting philosophy of training, research, and management in wilderness. It embraces ideas that highlight a sound
understanding of the African as well as the more global contexts in
which a pedagogical philosophy must be etched. It is a philosophy
that builds on the ideas and writings of key Africanists and also
takes cognizance of the ever-expanding conservation and wilderness literature found elsewhere. The aim of this paper is to examine
the value of bringing wilderness practitioners and more broadly
focused academics together to develop a program of wilderness
training and research that is intended to contribute to wilderness
management and protection. To achieve this aim, a brief outline of
the historical background of the alliance is presented. Thereafter,
the nature of the alliance is examined before its achievements are
considered. Key challenges are articulated as a basis for a prognosis
of future actions.
Introduction ____________________
Change and transformation are arguably two of the keywords that spring to mind if one becomes embroiled—
sometimes unwittingly and invariably reluctantly—in contemporary political, social, and economic debate in Southern
Africa. They are also key words behind principles and
practices in global contexts, where attempts are made to
address present development problems and envisage the
sustainable use of resources into the future.
The call for sustainable development is often heard and is
invariably defined as: …development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Botchway and others 2001:
407).
In our opinion, that definition in itself is insufficient and
ineffective as a means to understand the challenges of
W. D. Densham is Chairman of the Wilderness Action Group, 5 Davidson
Street, Howick, 3290, Republic of South Africa, E-mail: densham@sai.co.za.
R. J. Fincham is Director, Centre for Environment and Development, University of Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, Pietermaritzburg, South
Africa, E-mail: fincham@nu.ac.za
In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet, comps. 2003. Science and stewardship to
protect and sustain wilderness values: Seventh World Wilderness Congress
symposium; 2001 November 2–8; Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Proc. RMRSP-27. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station.
34
securing and perpetuating a tradition of innovative debate
around wilderness training, management, and protection.
McNeill (2000: 22) notes that the
…sustainable development debate has often been cast (by the
Bruntland Report and others) in terms of the rights of future
generations. …it necessarily involves:
• Rights of the poor in the present generation, as against
those of the rich.
• Rights of non-humans as against humans.
• Rights of future generations as against present
generations.
His observations are crucial because they underline the
political, most often government- driven desire to uplift the
considerable populations of the continent, where poverty
fashions the life expectations of most people. There is serious
error in thinking that we can plan for the future by adopting
consensus-type definitions eschewed by Botchway (2001)
and the famous Bruntland Report (Bruntland 1987). We
must rather face the confrontation that exists in the heart of
the “sustainable development” debate, as made so abundantly clear when the other two dimensions as spelt out by
McNeill (2000) are added. The world of the “haves” and the
“have nots” have very different views on the value of conservation, for example, and they color the theory and practice of
conservation and wilderness actions we may wish to take.
Mary Seely, speaking at the 1996 Wilderness Management
Symposium in Namibia (Jankowitz and others 1999: 189),
sets out the issue succinctly:
…I would like to suggest, that if all of us are interested in
Wilderness, as we all profess to be, and why we are here, we
ought to be spending a lot more time looking outside of the
Wilderness in Namibia. That is where the poverty is taking
place. That is where the land degradation is taking place.
That is where the population is…and the situations…that are
going to impact upon what we consider Wilderness, what we
would like to see as Wilderness in the future. And we should
be spending more time there already.
It is our contention that the alliance formed between the
Wilderness Action Group (WAG), the Centre for Environment and Development (CEAD)-University of Natal, and
the partners of both organizations promotes an exciting
philosophy of education, training, and research in wilderness. It embraces ideas that highlight a sound understanding of the African, as well as the more global contexts in
which a pedagogical philosophy must be etched. It is a
philosophy that builds on the ideas of Africanists such as
Draper (1998), Mkhize (1999), Player (1999), Muir (1999),
Densham (1999), Bainbridge (1987), Van Rensburg (1995),
and Carruthers (2001). It also takes cognizance of the
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-27. 2003
Densham and Fincham
WAG-CEAD Alliance: Commitment to Wilderness Training and Protection in Southern Africa
ever-expanding conservation and wilderness literature found
elsewhere (Beinart and Coates 1995; Martin 1999; Nicolson
1970; Weingart 1999; White 1967; and many others).
As such, the objective of this paper is to examine the value
of bringing wilderness practitioners and more broadly focused academics together to develop a program of wilderness
training that is intended to contribute to wilderness management and protection. To achieve this aim a brief outline
of the historical background to the alliance is presented.
Thereafter, the nature of the alliance is examined before its
achievements are considered. Key challenges are articulated as a basis for a prognosis of future actions.
Context and Perspectives ________
A major concern in fostering wilderness conservation in
this region has been that key organizations embrace wilderness as part of their mandate. As Densham (1999) points out,
wilderness conservation in Africa had its origins in KwaZuluNatal when the then Natal Parks Board, now the Ezimvelo
KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW), set aside the first wilderness area in Zululand in 1955, others being added in the
Province and elsewhere thereafter. By the 1990s, wilderness
as a separate category in the South African classification of
protected areas was in place. While these steps are laudable,
there has been little imprint of wilderness proclamation
more widely on the continent, although the symposium held
in the Waterberg Plateau Park in Namibia in 1996 highlighted its significance and what was being done in that
country (Cooper 1999).
Another issue highlighted by Densham was the lack of a
common approach to management of wilderness. Herein lay
the impetus to develop wilderness management training.
WAG became the driving force behind training after its
inception in 1979 as a voluntary nongovernment organization (NGO). Amongst others, its mission is to:
Promote the ethic of wilderness conservation in southern
Africa and elsewhere; and Promote the appropriate management and use of wilderness areas.
It has also been concerned with:
they had developed. Also attending was Dr. Wayne Freimund
from the Wilderness Institute, University of Montana, School
of Forestry. This tripartite alliance has been important in
the development of the management training that has
ensued, as indicated later in this paper.
The Centre for Environment and Development-University of Netal, established in 1995, has three key functions:
(1) teaching, (2) research, and (3) outreach activities. In its
inception years, the flagship activity has been a 1-year
interdisciplinary course work Masters Program in Environment and Development (MEnvDev). The program annually
attracts 25 or so students, from all over Africa in particular.
In more recent times, students and researchers from other
parts of the globe are joining the program, denoting a more
global appeal of the program and the work of CEAD. However, the African nature of the programs remains a key
strength.
From a potential focus on wilderness alone, the meeting
mentioned earlier also resulted in the establishment of an
entirely new program of postgraduate study in Protected
Area Management (PAM). The first intake of postgraduate
students will enter the program in July 2002. The PAM
program admirably complements the MEnvDev program.
Its purpose is to produce graduates who understand the
concepts and principles of Protected Area Management in
the local and Southern African context. These graduates will
provide the skills and expertise critical to institutions and
communities tasked with managing the sustainable use of
all categories of protected areas.
•
•
•
Submissions to governments, politicians, decision-makers
and international agencies on the value of wilderness; and
Education and training programs for wilderness managers,
administrators, users of wilderness areas and communities
living adjacent to wilderness areas.
By the 1990s, WAG was fully involved in a vigorous
training program to fill a clearly perceived void. It also
realized that it was not only formal organizations that
required such training but that other NGOs and communities with direct and indirect interests in wilderness needed
to be vitally involved.
It also became evident that its partnership with the United
States Forest Service was pivotal in developing training,
given the considerable experience from those parts. So, it
delivered courses from the early 1990s, training some 500 to
600 participants over an 8-year period—both in South Africa
and in Namibia, where similar concerns and a growing
wilderness expertise made for happy synergy.
In 1998, WAG and CEAD met to formally discuss the
evolution of a partnership to forward the training program
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•
•
It is useful to touch on one or two aspects of the PAM
program, since we see that as the context for future
wilderness teaching and management training.
PAM opens up the possibility to train managers of
Wilderness through participation in the Masters program itself. This will enable graduates (exit qualifications include certificates, diploma, and degree options)
to have training in conservation management and principles from theory and practice that are directly relevant to wilderness.
Professional short courses associated with PAM will
include the Wilderness Concepts and Practice course,
open to all who meet the necessary entrance requirements. This course has evolved out of the two courses
developed by WAG, the Basic and the Advanced management courses, offered before the alliance was set in
place.
The offering of the Basic and the Advanced management courses to potential audiences as in the past.
The offering of specially tailored courses based on those
above, for example, as in the Special Course given just
th
prior to the 7 World Wilderness Congress.
CEAD/WAG Partnership
TANSTAAFL is a wonderful acronym boldly making the
point that, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Any
partnership requires careful nurturing, and a hallmark of
this one has been the joint commitment of both parties. What
then makes for the successes that it has achieved? The
following issues spring to mind:
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Densham and Fincham
•
•
•
WAG-CEAD Alliance: Commitment to Wilderness Training and Protection in Southern Africa
Complementarity—Each partner has brought specific
skills to the marriage. WAG’s practical experience has
been invaluable. CEAD’s interdisciplinary expertise
and unique position within the academic community is
vitally important.
Complexity—The very nature of wilderness begs a multifaceted examination. To progress in the training and
garnishing of management skills for wilderness means
that learners must, on the one hand, not embrace
wilderness concepts and practice via experiential learning from practitioners alone. That learning must be
packaged within a broader range of theoretical economic, environmental, social, political, and ethical considerations that work at different scales within a system
(fig. 1). WAG provides the former, and the university
provides the latter.
Problem-based learning—This approach to training (fig. 2)
is well suited to the wilderness philosophy. Learning is
Boundaries set by symptoms of a “problem” (that is, an issue)
Key:
N = Natural
S = Social
T = Technological
Macro-level
emergent phenomena from T-N-S
interaction
aggregation from below
•
•
•
S
N
•
T
S
N
Meso-level
decision environment set by macro-level
emergent phenomena at meso-level
aggregation from below
T
S
N
Micro-level
decision environment set by macro-/meso-levels
emergent phenomena at micro-level
•
T
Partnership Achievements ________
Figure 1—Issues leading to emergent phenomena (Botchway and others: 398, fig 24.1). Emergence refers to the phenomena whereby causes
at one hierarchical level generate qualitatively
new characteristics at another level of greater
complexity. Translated into our terms, wilderness
problems mainly caused by the complex interactions between technological (T), natural (N), and
social (S) systems across space and time.
Following are some of the key achievements to date:
•
•
•
Learner control
Project/case
study work
•
•
Lectures
Teacher control
Figure 2—Opting for problem- and project-based
learning.
36
driven by the learner; the lecturing and wilderness
experts act as facilitators. The ability to link theory and
practice in a meaningful way is greatly enhanced.
Accreditation—All courses taught are now fully accredited within a University System that has international
standing and demands quality assurance in the delivery of its programs.
Skills Development Act of the Republic of South Africa—
In an effort to enhance the skill levels in all organizations, each one has to pay a 1-percent levy on all salaried
individuals within it. In turn, about 75 percent of that
levy is retrievable if staff are sent on accredited training
programs. The Concepts and Practice courses meet these
requirements, and so it means that future intakes are, in
principle, assured for organizations whose mainstream
activities include wilderness management.
Evaluation and review process—I (the Coordinator of
the training program) have instituted a course evaluation and review system that obtains strong feedback
from learners and from those who teach on the course.
In this way the program remains relevant and meets
needs.
Adaptability—Courses can be adapted and tailor made
to suit the requirements of clients.
A virtual reality—CEAD and WAG have long held the
philosophy that “small is beautiful.” The courses developed through the partnership have not required huge
infrastructural requirements, but rather the development of course material and staff skills that are readily
transportable. As such, the courses can be taken to
different venues. Delivery in the Southern African Development Community region and further afield are
distinct possibilities.
Problem
solving
Learner control
•
Proven contribution to trained management capacity—
There is now a trained cadre of field workers who can
provide management capacity in wilderness designated
areas, specifically within an African context.
Involvement of communities abutting and/or with a stake
in wilderness areas in capacity building—Communities
abutting on wilderness are developing capacity to appreciate and contribute to wilderness conservation.
Professional training of postgraduate students—Students
are being trained at a postgraduate level in Wilderness
Concepts and Practice.
Exposure for wilderness—The courses have provided
broad exposure for the need of wilderness conservation
in an underdeveloped or disadvantaged world context.
Development of expertise in making management
plans—The ability of a broad group of learners to conduct management plans is in place.
Assistance in the proclamation of new wilderness areas
and setting in place wilderness legislation—The setting
aside of new wilderness areas in Southern Africa has
taken place, and WAG in particular has made considerable contributions to the legislative process in South
Africa.
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WAG-CEAD Alliance: Commitment to Wilderness Training and Protection in Southern Africa
Namibian Wilderness Training Initiative—The
Namibian Wilderness Association (NWA) has indicated
that they wish to, and are capable of, assuming the role
of a Wilderness training provider. The NWA has stated
that they wish to retain their association with WAG and
CEAD. However, they will be seeking a more direct
partnership with the Polytechnic of Namibia in respect
to accreditation.
Constraints ____________________
The following have been identified as limiting factors
in the sustained development of training in wilderness
management:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Need for self-sufficiency—Becoming self-sufficient from
a funding perspective will be a necessity. Taking full
advantage of the Skills Development Act will be crucial
so that relevant courses become self-supporting and
donor funds are not necessary.
Striving for formal support—The formal support from
conservation organizations will be crucial so that staff is
required to undertake relevant courses, including the
anchor Basic and Advanced courses specifically designed for managers and the Wilderness Concepts and
Practices fashioned for postgraduate student training.
Executive and senior management training—At present,
there is no strong targeting of executive/senior management within the teaching schema. Invariably, this key
group of decisionmakers do not rate wilderness as a
priority within sustainable development and conservation contexts. They generally do not understand or
appreciate the need for wilderness and its special visitor
and management requirements.
The training of facilitators—The facilitators of the training programs need to ensure that relevant individuals
and organizations master the wilderness material and
can, themselves, become facilitators. The inception of a
Train the Facilitators course in October of this year has
paved the way to ensure this capability into the future.
The maintenance of standards is crucial—The University of Montana has, in principle, agreed to act as an
outside evaluator of all courses developed, and that role
must be ensured.
Government support—Government support for wilderness is understandably limited. Here, the work of the
Wilderness Action Group, the Centre for Development,
the Wilderness Leadership School, and the Wilderness
Foundation provides a model so that this program of
training can be emulated.
The need to spread the message—There remains a
limited number of key NGOs in the region that do not
know of the program. Strategies to involve them will be
essential.
The need for a focused research initiative to underpin
the training—No teaching initiative can long remain
relevant and vibrant without reference to practitioners
who are at the cutting edge of discovery around their
area of expertise. As such, a vision for linking research
to the teaching program is necessary.
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Looking to the Future ____________
The context in which protected areas are managed, whether
under private, State, or communal ownership, has changed
dramatically. Whereas, in the past, a professional approach
to species protection many have been appropriate, now it is
necessary to manage simultaneously for social, economic,
and biodiversity sustainability within and across sociopolitical and geographical boundaries. To bring about a
fresh approach to the job, a new generation of managers is
required.
The development of the Protected Area Management
(PAM) program at CEAD-University of Natal provides a
context within which wilderness concerns can be strategically integrated within a broader educational program.
Wilderness must be conceived literally and figuratively as
an integral part of conservation management. It must not be
viewed as an “add on” or a “nice to have” activity.
This is the strategy being adopted by the WAG-CEAD
partnership. It provides a model for furthering wilderness
teaching, research, and outreach, and it is one that can be
adopted more widely outside the confines of these two
organizations. Under their auspices, in association, or simply bearing the lessons learnt here, the promulgation of new
initiatives is entirely feasible and to be welcomed.
References _____________________
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