The Kwando Basin of north-eastern Namibia is firmly embedded in current national and international conservation agendas. It is a key part of the world's largest transboundary conservation area, the Kavango–Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, and the home of seven community-based conservation areas (conservancies) and three smaller national parks (Mudumu, Nkasa Rupara and Bwabwata). While conservation agendas often start from the assumption that an authentic part of African nature is conserved as an assemblage of biota that has not been gravely impacted by subsistence agriculture, colonialism and global value chains, we show that environmental infrastructure along the Namibian side of the Kwando Valley has been shaped by the impact of administrative measures and the gradual decoupling of humans and wildlife in a vast wetland. The way towards today's conservation landscape was marked and marred by the enforced reordering of human–environment relations; clearing the riverine core wetlands of human habitation and concentrating communities in narrowly defined settlement zones; the suppression of specific, wetland-adapted subsistence practices; and the elimination of unwanted microbes with the help of insecticides. The interventions in the ecosystem and the construction of an environmental infrastructure have created a unique conservation landscape in the Namibian Zambezi region, which provides the foundation for its popularity and success.

纳米比亚东北部的宽道盆地已牢固地纳入当前的国家和国际保护议程。它是世界上最大的跨界保护区，Kavango-Zambezi（KAZA）边境保护区的关键部分，是七个社区保护区（优势）和三个较小的国家公园（Mudumu，Nkasa Rupara和Bwabwata）的所在地。虽然保护议程通常是基于这样的假设，即非洲自然的真实部分被保护为没有受到生存农业，殖民主义和全球价值链严重影响的生物群的集合，但我们表明，宽多纳米比亚一侧的环境基础设施由于行政措施的影响以及广阔的湿地中人类与野生动植物的逐渐脱钩，形成了山谷。人类与环境之间关系的重新排序标志着通往今天的保护景观的道路并受到了损害。清理人类居住的河流核心湿地，并在狭窄的定居区集中社区；压制适应湿地的具体生活习惯；并借助杀虫剂消除有害微生物。对生态系统的干预和环境基础设施的建设，在纳米比亚赞比西河地区创造了独特的保护景观，为其受欢迎和成功奠定了基础。清理人类居住的河流核心湿地，并在狭窄的定居区集中社区；压制适应湿地的具体生活习惯；并借助杀虫剂消除有害微生物。对生态系统的干预和环境基础设施的建设，在纳米比亚赞比西河地区创造了独特的保护景观，为其受欢迎和成功奠定了基础。清理人类居住的河流核心湿地，并在狭窄的定居区集中社区；压制适应湿地的具体生活习惯；并借助杀虫剂消除有害微生物。对生态系统的干预和环境基础设施的建设，在纳米比亚赞比西河地区创造了独特的保护景观，为其受欢迎和成功奠定了基础。