Land claims, land conservation and the public interest in protected areas

This paper highlights the issue of the public interest in 'Protected Areas' in national environmental legislation and policy frameworks. It draws on jacklyn Cock's critique of 'ecological modernisation' to argue that the current orthodoxy for settling land claims in 'protected areas' premised on commitment to social justice for those who were dispossessed of their rights in the past tends to downplay or disregard the interests of other constituencies who are not claimants.