A Critical Evaluation of International Agreements Towards a Revised Categorization for Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs)

Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are widely promoted as an international instrument to achieve certain conservation, cooperation and developmental goals, especially within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In the SADC context, the status of TFCAs is categorized based on the extent to which international agreements have been signed. These agreements take different forms such as treaties, memorandums of understanding (MoUs), protocols and bilateral agreements. However, the efficacy of agreement-based approaches towards the categorization of TFCAs has been questioned because it does not acknowledge the implementation complexities of TFCAs and lacks a sound conceptual basis. This research evaluates the international TFCA agreements in SADC with a view to recommending a revised categorization. This is achieved by applying Theory of Change (ToC) to a sample of ten signed TFCAs agreements. The results show a lack of enforcement mechanisms, weak provision for implementation and poorly defined objectives. These weaknesses of agreement-based approaches can best be addressed by expanding the categorization of TFCAs to also include the extent of legislative and operational alignment. The revised categorization supports a more complete understanding of TFCA implementation.