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This special issue, “Multispecies Encounters in Conservation Landscapes in Southern Africa,” investigates the changing conditions of multispecies coexistence in conservation contexts that transform entire ecosystems, including wildlife, plants, microbes and humans. With this focus, we draw from the theoretical field of multispecies studies to stimulate and promote scholarly discussion in this field in Southern Africa. Departing from the postulate that human lives cannot be studied in isolation from other forms of life (Van Dooren, Kirksey and Münster 2016; Kirksey and Helmreich 2010; Locke and Münster 2015), we focus on the dynamic ways in which human inhabitants in the conservation areas of Southern Africa coexist with the plants, mammals, insects, microbes and other non-human species. We do so whilst paying particular attention to the historical and political contexts that shape and are constituted by transforming multispecies relations and whilst reflecting local perspectives on the practicalities of multispecies coexistence and conflicts. The contributions in this special issue are distinguished by considerable diversity. First, they reflect a wide geographic range with research conducted in Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and Botswana. Second, they include a wide range of non-human actors, some of which are often not represented in scholarly social science and humanities studies (including multispecies studies): mammals, from hippopotami to elephants, but also donkeys, cattle and antelopes; plants (honeybush); insects and parasites (tsetse flies and trypanosomes); and landscapes (wildlife corridors and rivers). This introductory chapter starts with an overview of the field of multispecies studies and its criticisms to situate the special issue in this literature. Then, it goes on to detail the overall contributions of this collection of articles. This special issue adds to the field of multispecies studies by developing a distinct Southern African perspective. Th

Oral evidence from pastoral Pokot on vegetation changes in the rangelands of northern Baringo District points to major changes in structure and biodiversity composition over the past century. A landscape of perennial grasses has turned into an Acacia-dominated bush-land. Pelil (Acacia nubica), talamogh (Acacia mellifera), or anyua (Acacia reficiens), which characterise the pastoral landscape today, have increased rapidly since the 1950s. This article compares perceptions of current changes in grass compositions with former accounts, highlighting local assessments of declining high-quality grasses such as abrute (Brachiaria deflexa, Setaria homonyma) or puyun (Eragrostis cilianensis). The changes described are linked to a number of causal factors (high grazing pressure, restriction of pastoral mobility, increasing population numbers), allowing us to historicise the profound change in landscape vegetation. The costs and benefits of bush encroachment are also examined. The tremendous increase in goat numbers, and the sizeable growth of camel herds, is closely connected to the increased availability of fodder plants for browsers. The article concludes by contrasting the views expressed on landscape by Pokot elders with scientific accounts of environmental change.