Bulletin of Geography. Socio–economic Series No. 26 (2014): 51–66 BULLETIN OF GEOGRAPHY. SOCIO–ECONOMIC SERIES DE journal homepages: http://www.bulletinofgeography.umk.pl/ http://wydawnictwoumk.pl/czasopisma/index.php/BGSS/index http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bog ISSN 1732–4254 quarterly G ‘The Mkuze River it has crossed the fence’ (1) – communities on the boundary of the Mkuze protected area Christopher N. Burgoyne1, CDFMR, Clare J. Kelso2, CMR 1University of Johannesburg, School of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, Faculty of Science, South Afri- ca; phone +27 720 618 195; e-mail:
[email protected] (corresponding author); 2phone +27 115 592 423; e-mail:
[email protected] How to cite: Burgoyne, C.N and Kelso, C.J., 2014: ‘The Mkuze River it has crossed the fence’ – communities on the boundary of the Mkuze protected area. In: Rogerson, C.M. and Szymańska, D. editors, Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, No. 26, Toruń: Nico- laus Copernicus University, pp. 51–66. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bog-2014-0044 A bstract. Restricting access to wilderness and wildlife resources is a contested Article details: topic in a time when developing nations are seeking to increase quality of life for Received: 15 August 2014 their citizens. A case in point is the Mkuze Game Reserve which encompasses rich Revised: 4 September 2014 biodiversity and is surrounded by under-resourced rural communities. A history Accepted: 10 September 2014 of exclusion from land and resources has left local residents feeling negative about western conservation ideals. Perceptions of protected areas and conservation ob- jectives are important if management authorities are to affect a meaningful buy-in to conservation and sustainable resource use among local residents.