(Dis)Continuities: Property Regimes in Nature Conservation

Conclusion

This chapter has attempted to raise the question of why state land was considered to be useful for establishing national parks, and why and how private land is now increasingly being considered as more appropriate for nature conservation than state land. Part of the answer lies in the shifting powers of the state from its Westphalian foundation to the modern state, the rise of environmentalism and the widening dimension of global capitalism. In other words, there has been a significant shift from the belief that progress towards environmental protection could be achieved through the state.