ABSTRACT
Privately protected areas (PPAs) are internationally considered to be important policy implementation instruments to augment and strengthen protected area networks. However, there has been limited reflection on the performance of PPAs over time. This paper aims to identify key risks to the performance of PPAs as policy implementation instruments through the application of Theory of Change (ToC). Identifying and understanding these risks are important to allow for the evaluation and monitoring of PPA performance. The ToC method was applied to a specific PPA policy instrument namely, private nature reserves (PNRs) in the South African context. The research results produced 29 key assumptions translated into 29 key risks. These risk are critically discussed against existing South African and international literature. To test and refine the risks further it is recommended that they be applied to PPA case studies in different contexts.
ABSTRACT
Herod the Great, Idumean by birth, was king of the Jews from 40 to 4 BC. An able statesman, builder and warrior, he ruthlessly stamped out all perceived opposition to his rule. His last decade was characterised by vicious strife within his family and progressive ill health. We review the nature of his illnesses and suggest that he had meningoencephalitis in 59 BC, and that he died primarily of uraemia and hypertensive heart failure, but accept diabetes mellitus as a possible underlying aetiological factor. The possibility that Josephus' classical descriptions of Herod's disease could be biased by 'topos' biography (popular at the time), is discussed. The latter consideration is particularly relevant in determining the significance of the king's reputed worm infestation.
