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Green Militarization: Anti-Poaching Efforts and the Spatial Contours of Kruger National Park

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  • Elizabeth Lunstrum

Abstract

Building from scholarship charting the complex, often ambivalent, relationship between military activity and the environment, and the more recent critical geographical work on militarization, this article sheds light on a particular meshing of militarization and conservation: green militarization. An intensifying yet surprisingly understudied trend around the world, this is the use of military and paramilitary personnel, training, technologies, and partnerships in the pursuit of conservation efforts. I introduce this concept, first, as a call for more sustained scholarly investigation into the militarization of conservation practice. More modestly, the article offers its own contribution to this end by turning to South Africa's Kruger National Park, the world's most concentrated site of commercial rhino poaching. Focusing on the state's multilayered and increasingly lethal militarized response to what is itself a highly militarized practice, I illustrate how the spatial qualities of protected areas matter immensely for the convergence of conservation and militarization and the concrete forms this convergence takes. For Kruger, these include its status as a national park framed by a semiporous international border and its expansive, often dense terrain. Steering clear of spatial determinism, I equally show how spatial contours authorize militarization only once they articulate with particular assumptions and values; for Kruger these amount to political–ecological values regarding the nation-state, its sovereignty, and its natural heritage. The result is an intensifying interlocking of conservation and militarization that frequently produces unforeseen consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Lunstrum, 2014. "Green Militarization: Anti-Poaching Efforts and the Spatial Contours of Kruger National Park," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 104(4), pages 816-832, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:raagxx:v:104:y:2014:i:4:p:816-832
    DOI: 10.1080/00045608.2014.912545
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    Cited by:

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    2. Alan Collins & Caroline Cox & Juniours Marire, 2020. "On the judicial annulment of the ‘domestic’ trade moratorium in South African rhinoceros horn: a law and economics perspective," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 361-372, June.
    3. Massé, Francis & Margulies, Jared D., 2020. "The geopolitical ecology of conservation: The emergence of illegal wildlife trade as national security interest and the re-shaping of US foreign conservation assistance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    4. Kitonsa, H. & Kruglikov, S. V., 2018. "Significance of drone technology for achievement of the United Nations sustainable development goals," R-Economy, Ural Federal University, Graduate School of Economics and Management, vol. 4(3), pages 115-120.
    5. Bram Büscher, 2016. "‘Rhino poaching is out of control!’ Violence, race and the politics of hysteria in online conservation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(5), pages 979-998, May.
    6. Sjöstedt, Martin & Sundström, Aksel & Jagers, Sverker C. & Ntuli, Herbert, 2022. "Governance through community policing: What makes citizens report poaching of wildlife to state officials?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    7. Chambers, Josephine M. & Massarella, Kate & Fletcher, Robert, 2022. "The right to fail? Problematizing failure discourse in international conservation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Diaz, Stephanie G. & DeAngelis, Donald L. & Gaines, Michael S. & Purdon, Andrew & Mole, Michael A. & van Aarde, Rudi J., 2021. "Development and validation of a spatially-explicit agent-based model for space utilization by African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) based on determinants of movement," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 447(C).
    9. O’Leary Simpson, Fergus & Lwaboshi, Romain & Ikobo, Yves & Mulume, Papy, 2022. "Structuration of armed mobilisation in eastern DRC’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park," IOB Discussion Papers 2022.02, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    10. Schetter, Conrad & Mkutu, Kennedy & Müller-Koné, Marie, 2022. "Frontier NGOs: Conservancies, control, and violence in northern Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Sjöstedt, Martin & Linell, Amanda, 2021. "Cooperation and coercion: The quest for quasi-voluntary compliance in the governance of African commons," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    12. Swemmer, Louise & Mmethi, Helen & Twine, Wayne, 2017. "Tracing the cost/benefit pathway of protected areas: A case study of the Kruger National Park, South Africa," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(PB), pages 162-172.
    13. Gonzalez-Duarte, Columba, 2021. "Butterflies, organized crime, and “sad trees”: A critique of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve Program in a context of rural violence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    14. Muok, Benard Oula & Mosberg, Marianne & Eriksen, Siri Ellen Hallstrøm & Ong'ech, Dennis Onyango, 2021. "The politics of forest governance in a changing climate: Political reforms, conflict and socio-environmental changes in Laikipia, Kenya," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    15. Scanlan, Oliver & Siraj, Nasrin & Ritchil, Parag & Mankin, Shamsagor, 2024. "Is “pro-poor land administration” a realistic proposition? How a land survey in Bangladesh reproduced and reconfigured gendered and racialised poverty," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Eduful, Michael & Alsharif, Kamal & Eduful, Alexander & Acheampong, Michael & Eduful, Joyce & Mazumder, Lubana, 2020. "The Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale mining (Galamsey) ‘Menace’ in Ghana: Is Military-Style Approach the Answer?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Barry Ackers, 2024. "EL IMPACTO DE LA CAZA FURTIVA DE RINOCERONTES EN LA RENDICION DE CUENTAS DE UNA ORGANIZACION DE CONSERVACION FINANCIADA POR EL ESTADO(The impact of rhino poaching on the accountability disclosures of ," Revista Internacional de Gestión del Conocimiento y la Tecnología (GECONTEC), Revista Internacional de Gestión del Conocimiento y la Tecnología (GECONTEC), vol. 9(1), pages 65-81, March.
    18. Ide, Tobias, 2020. "The dark side of environmental peacebuilding," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    19. Strong, Michael & Silva, Julie A., 2021. "‘We would like this place to be a town’: The benefits and challenges of rural development near protected areas," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    20. Michel Notelid & Anneli Ekblom, 2021. "Household Vulnerability and Transformability in Limpopo National Park," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-22, March.
    21. Esther Marijnen, 2018. "Public Authority and Conservation in Areas of Armed Conflict: Virunga National Park as a ‘State within a State’ in Eastern Congo," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(3), pages 790-814, May.

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