CENTRALIZATION, RESOURCE DEPLETION, AND COERCIVE CONSERVATION AMONG THE TYUA OF THE NORTHEASTERN KALAHARI

The colonial and post-colonial governments of Botswana and Zimbabwe pu rsued policies toward their indigenous minority populations which incl uded the establishment of settlement schemes, removals of people from national parks; and game reserves, and the imposition of restrictions on hunting by local people. These polices had the effect of dispossess ing indigenous groups and reducing their access to resources crucial t o their adaptive success. The impacts of these polices are examined us ing data on Tyua Bushmen in the Nata liver region of northern Botswana and western Zimbabwe. It demonstrates that the kinds of conservation and development programs employed resulted in greater resow ce depleti on, increased poverty, and social stratification. There is evidence th at resource conservation programs can sometimes do more harm than good .