Hayley Clements – The Conversation

A male kudu passes in front of tourists on a game drive in South Africa. David Silverman/Getty Images

January 7, 2026

Land reform in South Africa: how new landholders could prosper from wildlife and not just farming

Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University; Alta De Vos, Stellenbosch University; Matthew Child, University of Pretoria, and Siviwe Shwababa, Rhodes University

South Africa needs to track whether beneficiaries of land reform policies are participating in the country’s thriving wildlife economy.

South Africa’s new biodiversity economy strategy aims to make the benefits from biodiversity available to more people. Hayley Clements

April 4, 2024

South Africa’s conservation model: why expanding the use of biodiversity to generate money is a good idea

Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University; Alta De Vos, Stellenbosch University, and Matthew Child, University of Pretoria

The strategy aims to conserve biodiversity while also contributing to the creation of jobs and economic growth.

A white rhino in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Enrico Di Minin

May 30, 2023

Half of Africa’s white rhino population is in private hands – it’s time for a new conservation approach

Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University; Dave Balfour, Nelson Mandela University, and Enrico Di Minin, University of Helsinki

To what extent should the costs of protecting globally valued rhinos be carried by their local custodians?

Zebras stand in a ranch in South Africa. Francois Louw/Shutterstock

October 26, 2022

South Africa’s wildlife ranches can offer solutions to Africa’s growing conservation challenges

Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University; Alta De Vos, Rhodes University, and Matthew Child, University of Pretoria

Africa’s designated protected areas don’t handle shocks well - South Africa’s wildlife ranches offer lessons in resilience.

In some African countries, lion trophy hunting is legal. Riaan van den Berg

March 2, 2021

Recreational hunting, conservation and livelihoods: no clear evidence trail

Enrico Di Minin, University of Helsinki; Anna Haukka, University of Helsinki; Anna Hausmann, University of Helsinki; Christoph Fink, University of Helsinki; Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Flinders University; Gonzalo Cortés-Capano, University of Helsinki; Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University, and Ricardo Correia, University of Helsinki

Debates centred on the role of recreational hunting in supporting nature conservation and local people’s livelihoods are among the most polarising in conservation today.

Land reform strategies portray the land as uniform, static and independent from its social-environmental context. GettyImages

September 20, 2020

South Africa’s land reform policies need to embrace social, economic and ecological sustainability

Penny Mograbi, Rhodes University; Alta De Vos, Rhodes University; Charlie Shackleton, Rhodes University; Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University; Joana Bezerra, Rhodes University; Kaera Coetzer, University of the Witwatersrand, and Kristi Maciejewski, Stellenbosch University

South Africa’s that current land reform strategies focus too narrowly on agricultural outcomes and transferred ownership - this undermines equitable and sustainable land reform.

With tourism revenue drying up due to COVID-19, the debate surrounding trophy hunting of wildlife species like African lions is more relevant now than before. Alex Braczkowski

June 28, 2020

COVID‑19, Africa’s conservation and trophy hunting dilemma

Duan Biggs, Griffith University; Alexander Richard Braczkowski, Griffith University; Alta De Vos, Rhodes University, and Hayley Clements, Stellenbosch University

A new study evaluates what South African landowners who run trophy hunting operations would do in the event of a hunting ban.

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