Retief Francois Pieter, Alberts Reece Cronje, Lubbe Willem Daniel, Roos Claudine, Cilliers Dirk Petrus
Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Protected Areas Research Group, North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Environ Manage. 2023 Dec;72(6):1099-1110. doi: 10.1007/s00267-023-01872-3. Epub 2023 Sep 7.
Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are widely promoted as an international instrument to achieve certain conservation, cooperation and developmental goals, especially within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In the SADC context, the status of TFCAs is categorized based on the extent to which international agreements have been signed. These agreements take different forms such as treaties, memorandums of understanding (MoUs), protocols and bilateral agreements. However, the efficacy of agreement-based approaches towards the categorization of TFCAs has been questioned because it does not acknowledge the implementation complexities of TFCAs and lacks a sound conceptual basis. This research evaluates the international TFCA agreements in SADC with a view to recommending a revised categorization. This is achieved by applying Theory of Change (ToC) to a sample of ten signed TFCAs agreements. The results show a lack of enforcement mechanisms, weak provision for implementation and poorly defined objectives. These weaknesses of agreement-based approaches can best be addressed by expanding the categorization of TFCAs to also include the extent of legislative and operational alignment. The revised categorization supports a more complete understanding of TFCA implementation.
跨界保护区（TFCAs）作为实现某些保护、合作与发展目标的一项国际手段得到了广泛推广，特别是在南部非洲发展共同体（SADC）内部。在南部非洲发展共同体的背景下，跨界保护区的地位是根据签署国际协定的程度来划分的。这些协定有不同的形式，如条约、谅解备忘录（MoUs）、议定书和双边协定。然而，基于协定的跨界保护区分类方法的有效性受到了质疑，因为它没有认识到跨界保护区实施的复杂性，并且缺乏坚实的概念基础。本研究对南部非洲发展共同体的国际跨界保护区协定进行了评估，以期推荐一种修订后的分类方法。这是通过将变革理论（ToC）应用于十个已签署的跨界保护区协定样本实现的。结果显示缺乏执行机制、实施条款薄弱以及目标定义不明确。基于协定的方法的这些弱点，最好通过扩大跨界保护区的分类，使其也包括立法和业务协调的程度来解决。修订后的分类有助于更全面地理解跨界保护区的实施情况。
