The introduction to this set of papers highlights four challenges to the large-scale analysis of population growth at protected area edges in Africa and Latin America undertaken by George Wittemyer and colleagues in their 2008 paper published in Science. First, it raises questions about their sampling procedures, given national-level variation in systems of protected area designation and protected area estates. Second, it challenges the largely economic model of migration decisions that underlies their analysis. Third, it highlights the neglected variable of land tenure systems as a factor facilitating or impeding migration. Fourth, it points to the problematic politics of reducing human communities and polities to 'populations' subject to management from afar.

This paper examines population changes around the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, in light of Wittemyer et al. (2008a)'s argument that migration is leading to disproportionate population growth around protected areas. Migration to, and within, rural areas of South Africa reflects both migrants' diverse motives and the limits on movement created by socially-embedded land tenure systems, not simply an aggregation of populations around areas with potential livelihood attractions. At the 10 km resolution used by Wittemyer et al., contradictory trends are evident, related to long-standing livelihood differences and changes in rural-urban migration that accompanied the end of apartheid, and expansion of other rural population centres. At a finer resolution (2-4 km), the paper describes some small scale population movement toward the Nature Reserve, primarily attributable to the reversal of apartheid-era evictions, driven more by uncomfortable situations in the resettlement area than any attractions of the Nature Reserve. In conclusion, the paper raises broader questions about the causal claims in Wittemyer et al.'s analysis, given its lack of attention to local and regional political economic factors and the demography of migrant streams.

Recent analyses of global population change data have indicated accelerated human population growth near protected area edges in Latin America and Africa. The authors hypothesised that this growth is driven by opportunities created by integrated conservation and development. This paper highlights three Costa Rican protected areas that illuminate the problems inherent with the use of context-independent global statistics. This paper employs grounded, contextual data to suggest that hypotheses derived from global level analyses must be cautiously applied to conservation policy and praxis.

Controversies and contestations of park and other protected area policies, new conservation rules and regulations (formal and informal), and new land classifications are redefining land and resource use, and thus livelihood options, for four ethnically distinct communities around Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. Research was conducted on how livelihoods have been shaped by perceptions of and in response to conservation policies and community-based conservation projects. Several factors were revealed that provide examples of perceived problems and issues, which would deter in-migration to these communities bordering a national park. Migration into these areas, located to the east, north-west, and western border of Tarangire National Park may be limited, at best, due to issues of fear and mistrust, lack of access to and alienation from land and resources, ethnicity, and litigious actions. This paper addresses these limiting factors, revealing how real world examples of conservation issues can be used to inform policy, rather than relying solely on statistical-based modelling.

This report draws on fieldwork done in Machu Picchu, Peru in order to critique the Wittemyer et al. (2008) study on population growth around protected areas. I disagree with the study's emphasis on reducing people's motives to economic drives alone. The study separates the political from the economic by attempting to fix motives as economic calculations. I argue that a homogenous social process does not drive the population of the protected area. The approach used by Wittemyer et al. (2008) risks constructing a dichotomy that frames inhabitants of protected areas as either 'needy' or 'greedy', and fails to recognise that protected areas can form different kinds of political spaces for locals. In Machu Picchu the failure to recognise political space leads to many misunderstandings between locals and conservationists. The paper is a reminder that even for locals, protected areas involve discursive and political relations and the construction of a public sphere that has its own drive and momentum.

While the community conservation approach has gained broad acceptance, questions regarding its effectiveness persist. Many of the changes that community conservation projects seek to impart among participants correspond with their values and attitudes. This paper proposes the use of transformative learning as one of the measures of the success of a community conservation project in terms of promoting learning that leads to significant changes in a participant's values and attitudes. Using the ASSETS programme in coastal Kenya as a case study, we focused on participant learning and the extent to which such learning resulted in a more positive attitude towards conservation of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Participation in ASSETS resulted in instrumental learning and communicative learning, as described in the transformative learning theory. Findings show that participation in ASSETS led to a variety of learning outcomes, such as learning new information about the forest, and learning to question local cultural norms and speak out for conservation.

The coercive, top-down approach to managing protected areas has created socio-cultural disruption and often even failed to conserve biodiversity. This top-down conservation approach has led to management decisions seriously threatening the livelihood and cultural heritage of local people, such as the resettlement programme established to move people from villages inside the park, and the reduction of access to resources and traditional rights. This article presents findings from an analysis of the resettlement program, documenting the consequences of the relocation process on people's livelihood in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India. The results show that local people have had little influence on the relocation process, and hardly any say on the limitations of access and use of resources linked to the constitution of this protected area. The article challenges the existing conservation paradigm practiced currently by the authorities in most protected areas in India, and calls for park management to rethink their vision of conservation, by adopting new approaches toward a more collaborative paradigm integrating conservation and development needs.

Despite dramatic transformations in conservation rhetoric regarding local people, indigenous rights, and community-oriented approaches, conservation in many places in Tanzania today continues to infringe on human rights. This happens through the exclusion of local people as knowledgeable active participants in management, policy formation, and decision-making processes in land that 'belongs' to them and on which their livelihoods depend. In this paper, I focus on a relatively new conservation area designed on the Conservation Trust Model-Manyara Ranch in Monduli district in northern Tanzania. I present this case as a conservation opportunity lost, where local Maasai who were initially interested in utilising the area for conservation, have come to resent and disrespect the conservation status of the area, after having lost it from their ownership and control. I illustrate how the denial of Maasai memories, knowledge, and management practices in Manyara Ranch threaten the future viability of the place both for conservation and for Maasai use. The paper contributes to a growing literature as well as a set of concerns regarding the relationship between conservation and human rights.

Tourism directed at bird watching (avitourism) has become increasingly popular. In many lower and middle-income countries, including South Africa, avitourism is being applied in an effort to simultaneously achieve community development and biodiversity conservation. This paper presents the results of an exploratory investigation of 11 community-based avitourism projects in South Africa. Conservation benefits were measured with the Threat Reduction Assessment tool. We calculated the Gamma (G) correlation coefficient to explore the relationship between conservation and income benefits and project characteristics. The projects were successful at reducing threats to sites where conservation was an explicit objective (n=11, G=0.609, P=0.03). The level of income benefits did not correlate with success in reducing threats to conservation. Once involved in avitourism projects, the average monthly income earned by local bird guides increased from USD 114 to USD 362. The extent of income benefits was positively related to the extent of support to projects (n=10, G=0.714, P=0.01). Participants in the projects reported substantive capacity building and empowerment benefits. Success in delivering conservation, income and empowerment benefits was challenged by the local guide's limited previous exposure to tourism and business, the guide's lack of self assurance, cultural differences, and a requirement for sustained mentorship and support to overcome these barriers. We conclude that with adequate long-term support, avitourism projects can be a cost-effective way to create jobs and deliver conservation and human development benefits.