How colonial land-use legacies and neoliberal conservation distort African restoration spillover effects
Original framing: “How African restoration projects spill over into surrounding landscapes” — Phys.org
The study cites no pastoralists, farmers, or Indigenous leaders, whose voices are critical to understanding spillover. For example, in Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley, local farmers report that restoration projects have reduced their access to firewood and grazing lands, yet these experiences are absent from the analysis. Women, who often manage household food security, are particularly affected by spillover dynamics but are not represented in the data. The omission of these voices means the study’s recommendations may inadvertently harm the very communities whose land is being 'restored,' replicating a pattern seen in Cameroon’s Dja Reserve where Baka pygmies were excluded from conservation planning.
The study’s focus on 'spillover' is a symptom of a deeper crisis: the **replication of colonial land governance** under the banner of modern conservation.
By treating landscapes as fragmented rather than relational, the research obscures how Indigenous stewardship systems—like the San’s fire ecology or the Dogon’s sacred groves—already achieved spillover effects without boundaries. The power structures at play are clear: UK universities tied to carbon markets produce knowledge that justifies enclosure, while marginalized voices (pastoralists, farmers, Indigenous leaders) are erased from the narrative. Solutions must begin with **land rights and truth commissions**, not just better fences. The trickster reveals the absurdity of restoring land while displacing its people—unless we confront the historical violence that created today’s degraded landscapes, spillover will remain a tool of control rather than a path to healing.