Against Extinction: The Story of Conservation
Abstract
‘Conservation in the 21st century needs to be different and this book is a good indicator of why.’ Bulletin of British Ecological Society Against Extinction tells the history of wildlife conservation from its roots in the 19th century, through the foundation of the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire in London in 1903 to the huge and diverse international movement of the present day. It vividly portrays conservation's legacy of big game hunting, the battles for the establishment of national parks, the global importance of species conservation and debates over the sustainable use of and trade in wildlife. Bill Adams addresses the big questions and ideas that have driven conservation for the last 100 years: How can the diversity of life be maintained as human demands on the Earth expand seemingly without limit? How can preservation be reconciled with human rights and the development needs of the poor? Is conservation something that can be imposed by a knowledgeable elite, or is it something that should emerge naturally from people's free choices? These have never been easy questions, and they are as important in the 21st century as at any time in the past. The author takes us on a lively historical journey in search of the answers.
... Ian Player and Nick Steele are prominent figures within white South African conservation circles and served as game rangers in the Zululand reserves (Steele, 1968(Steele, , 1971(Steele, , 1979Harthoorn, 1970;Draper, 1998;Player, 2013; see also Chapter Seven in relation to the conservancy movement). The "rescue" of the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) code-named "Operation White Rhino" happened between 1961 and 1966 (Player, 1967(Player, , 2013Brooks, 2006;Carruthers, 2013 (Steele, 1968;Player, 1967Player, , 2013Harthoorn, 1970;Brooks, 2006;Carruthers, 2013 The name of such a rescue initiative shows that it was military in character, similar to other conservation efforts which targeted specific endangered species in the period after the Second World War (Steele, 1968;Adams, 2004). Ian Player even acknowledges that: ...
... The control of hunting in colonial contexts such as this has historical roots, as Adams (2004: 24) notes: ...
... So hunting then became viewed as the most appropriate way of wildlife utilisation. Wels (2003: 18) argues that this status given to hunting was steeped in "the imperial tradition and social identity of whites in southern Africa in which hunting always played an important and dominant role" (see also Adams, 2004;MacKenzie, 1988;Ax, Brimnes, Jensen and Oslund, 2011). ...
Conversion from livestock and/or crop farming to game farming has been a notable trend on privately owned land in South Africa over the last decades. This change has been characterised by the fast growth of wildlife ranching, reflected in the annual increase in land enclosed by game fences and the high demand for wildlife which is being traded privately and at wildlife auctions. Key environmental and agricultural legislation has been passed since 1994 that impacts the wildlife sector, for instance, legislation on property rights, (re)distribution of resources, and biodiversity conservation in South Africa. The study sought to investigate the extent to which the state can impose effective controls over land use activities related to wildlife conservation on private land, and to explore in detail how governance processes actually work on the ground in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The study explores how the private game farming industry positions itself with respect to existing agricultural and environmental regulations, as well as how the state is responding to the challenge of competing needs over land and wildlife resources that is posed by the game farming sector. The basis of the study was to unravel findings that show interactions, discourses, policy positions, and power relations of stakeholders in the governance of game farming. Realising the importance of the link between environmental governance and institutions, the thesis uses the idea of institutional bricolage by Frances Cleaver to explore the governance of private game farms through various institutional arrangements. Cleaver contends that formal institutions created through abstract principles are not the primary means through which tensions inherent in the use of natural resources are resolved. Greater focus was therefore placed on how rules, norms and shared strategies get stitched together through repetitive interactions by actors involved in game ranching. Critical realism was the guiding ontological philosophy for this study. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews with key informants from major stakeholder organisations and communities linked to the private wildlife sector in KwaZulu-Natal province. I also collected data through visits to game farms and private wildlife reserves, and acted as an observer at game auctions, workshops, and conferences. Documentary evidence collected also served as primary data. Critical discourse analysis (which in this study also incorporates political discourse analysis) was the major analytical framework. Evidence presented in this study points towards the fractured state in the governance of the private game farming sector. The state is not a homogeneous and monolithic entity uniformly applying itself to the regulation of the sector. There is no clear direction on the position of private game farming at the interface of environmental and agricultural regulations. The state lacks a clear vision for the South African countryside as shown by the outstanding land restitution and labour tenant claims on privately owned land earmarked for wildlife production. Instead, role players in the game farming sector are using the available governance arrangements to position themselves strategically for their own benefit, even though some of their activities cause tension. In that process, the private wildlife industry has completely changed the landscape of nature conservation in South Africa. In KwaZulu-Natal the long-standing cordial relations between conservation authorities and private landowners have worked to the advantage of the private landowners. The study argues that this transformation of the institutional processes mediating the governance of the private game farming sector has been a long and enduring arrangement emerging organically over time. Changes in the regulatory regime through new laws, amendment of existing laws and unbalanced implementation of existing laws creates an environment of considerable uncertainty for the game farmers who are the major role players in the wildlife sector, yet within this context private landowners do retain significant space for manoeuvre.
... Ian Player and Nick Steele are prominent figures within white South African conservation circles and served as game rangers in the Zululand reserves (Steele, 1968(Steele, , 1971(Steele, , 1979Harthoorn, 1970;Draper, 1998;Player, 2013; see also Chapter Seven in relation to the conservancy movement). The "rescue" of the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) code-named "Operation White Rhino" happened between 1961 and 1966 (Player, 1967(Player, , 2013Brooks, 2006;Carruthers, 2013 (Steele, 1968;Player, 1967Player, , 2013Harthoorn, 1970;Brooks, 2006;Carruthers, 2013 The name of such a rescue initiative shows that it was military in character, similar to other conservation efforts which targeted specific endangered species in the period after the Second World War (Steele, 1968;Adams, 2004). Ian Player even acknowledges that: ...
... The control of hunting in colonial contexts such as this has historical roots, as Adams (2004: 24) notes: ...
... So hunting then became viewed as the most appropriate way of wildlife utilisation. Wels (2003: 18) argues that this status given to hunting was steeped in "the imperial tradition and social identity of whites in southern Africa in which hunting always played an important and dominant role" (see also Adams, 2004;MacKenzie, 1988;Ax, Brimnes, Jensen and Oslund, 2011). ...
Conversion from livestock and/or crop farming to game farming has been a notable trend on privately owned land in South Africa over the last decades. This change has been characterised by the fast growth of wildlife ranching, reflected in the annual increase in land enclosed by game fences and the high demand for wildlife which is being traded privately and at wildlife auctions. Key environmental and agricultural legislation has been passed since 1994 that impacts the wildlife sector, for instance, legislation on property rights, (re)distribution of resources, and biodiversity conservation in South Africa. The study sought to investigate the extent to which the state can impose effective controls over land use activities related to wildlife conservation on private land, and to explore in detail how governance processes actually work on the ground in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The study explores how the private game farming industry positions itself with respect to existing agricultural and environmental regulations, as well as how the state is responding to the challenge of competing needs over land and wildlife resources that is posed by the game farming sector. The basis of the study was to unravel findings that show interactions, discourses, policy positions, and power relations of stakeholders in the governance of game farming. Realising the importance of the link between environmental governance and institutions, the thesis uses the idea of institutional bricolage by Frances Cleaver to explore the governance of private game farms through various institutional arrangements. Cleaver contends that formal institutions created through abstract principles are not the primary means through which tensions inherent in the use of natural resources are resolved. Greater focus was therefore placed on how rules, norms and shared strategies get stitched together through repetitive interactions by actors involved in game ranching. Critical realism was the guiding ontological philosophy for this study. Data was obtained through in-depth interviews with key informants from major stakeholder organisations and communities linked to the private wildlife sector in KwaZulu-Natal province. I also collected data through visits to game farms and private wildlife reserves, and acted as an observer at game auctions, workshops, and conferences. Documentary evidence collected also served as primary data. Critical discourse analysis (which in this study also incorporates political discourse analysis) was the major analytical framework. Evidence presented in this study points towards the fractured state in the governance of the private game farming sector. The state is not a homogeneous and monolithic entity uniformly applying itself to the regulation of the sector. There is no clear direction on the position of private game farming at the interface of environmental and agricultural regulations. The state lacks a clear vision for the South African countryside as shown by the outstanding land restitution and labour tenant claims on privately owned land earmarked for wildlife production. Instead, role players in the game farming sector are using the available governance arrangements to position themselves strategically for their own benefit, even though some of their activities cause tension. In that process, the private wildlife industry has completely changed the landscape of nature conservation in South Africa. In KwaZulu-Natal the long-standing cordial relations between conservation authorities and private landowners have worked to the advantage of the private landowners. The study argues that this transformation of the institutional processes mediating the governance of the private game farming sector has been a long and enduring arrangement emerging organically over time. Changes in the regulatory regime through new laws, amendment of existing laws and unbalanced implementation of existing laws creates an environment of considerable uncertainty for the game farmers who are the major role players in the wildlife sector, yet within this context private landowners do retain significant space for manoeuvre.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
Impact evaluations assess the causal link between an action (e.g. erecting a fence) and the outcomes
(e.g. a change in the rate of crop raiding by elephants). This goes beyond understanding whether a
project has been implemented (e.g. whether activities were completed) to understanding what
changes happened due to the actions taken and why they happened as they did. Impact evaluation is
thus defined as the systematic process of assessing the effects of an intervention (e.g. project or
policy) by comparing what actually happened with what would have happened without it (i.e. the
counterfactual)
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
Historically, conservationists have focused on financial and technical solutions to human-wildlife
conflicts (Redpath et al., 2013). It has become clear that although these are important to generate a
context where change is possible, more attention to human behaviour is needed to achieve
longer-term human-wildlife coexistence (Veríssimo & Campbell, 2015). Interventions targeting human
behaviour have been largely focused on measures such as regulation and education. Regulation in this
context refers to the system of rules made by a government or other authority, usually backed by
penalties and enforcement mechanisms, which describes the way people should behave, while
education is concerned with the provision of information about a topic. However, the degree of
influence of these interventions depends on the priority audience being motivated (i.e. the individual
believes change is in their best interest) and/or able to change (i.e. overcome social pressure, inertia
and social norms) (Figure 21) (Smith et al., 2020b).
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
The human dimension aspects of conflicts over wildlife are largely determined by the thoughts, feelings and, ultimately, behaviours of people. Because all human-wildlife conflicts involve people, approaches that provide a better understanding of human behaviour – and facilitate behaviour change – are crucially important for helping manage such conflicts. Efforts to mitigate human-wildlife conflict commonly include actions to try to influence or change the attitudes or behaviours of the people involved. Another extremely common approach for reducing human-wildlife conflict is to conduct education and awareness campaigns. These activities are well
intentioned in attempting to change the human dimension of the human-wildlife conflict, but unfortunately are often ineffective for one very common reason – they are based on incorrect assumptions about cause-and-effect relationships of concepts within social psychology.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
The potential success of wildlife damage prevention measures can be significantly increased by taking the natural behaviour of animals into account, identifying ways in which some species have already adapted to the presence of humans and applying this knowledge elsewhere. It is also important to understand how individual differences in behaviour (animal and human personality) can vary the perception, presence and intensity of conflict from one landscape or conflict location to the next.
The chapter includes sections on: Animal decision making - negative impacts on human-dominated landscapes and ‘problem’ animals; key behavioural considerations; HWC scenarios linked to animal behaviour; and concludes with a step-by-step guide to considering animal behaviour in human-wildlife conflict
mitigation strategy development.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
An overview of the IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence (First Ed.), covering the global scale of the challenge, thoughts on defining HWC and Coexistence, and some essential considerations for management.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
Engaging with the social, psychological, economic and political
dimensions of wildlife management and conservation is essential for
robust and effective actions and policies regarding human-wildlife
conflicts.
Specifically, in the
context of human-wildlife conflicts, understanding different interest
groups’ perspectives and their different value systems, beliefs, priorities
and agendas is necessary to find out how to address challenges for
improved actions for people and wildlife.
The chapter focuses on the basics of social science and desigining social science research, with a section on ethics, and two case studies.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
Culture influences how people respond to or interact with wildlife, and how they respond to and manage conflicts. Culture is a set of principles, habits and symbols that are learnt and shared; it unites groups of people and influences their worldview and behaviour. Culture is also symbolic, whereby people have a shared understanding of symbolic meaning within their group or society. Culture may differ markedly within nations, regions and even local communities and can change over time. As outlined in Chapter 10 (How histories shape interactions), local
cultures and environmental relationships are not static and do not exist in isolation; they are influenced by local and global developments, past and present, and this needs to be taken into consideration when examining or working with human-wildlife conflict.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
As human-wildlife conflicts become more frequent, serious and widespread worldwide, they are notoriously challenging to resolve, and many efforts to address these conflicts struggle to make progress. These Guidelines provide an essential guide to understanding and resolving human-wildlife conflict. The Guidelines aim to provide foundations and principles for good practice, with clear, practical guidance on how best to tackle conflicts and enable coexistence with wildlife. They have been developed for use by conservation practitioners, community leaders, decision-makers, researchers, government officers and others. Focusing on approaches and tools for analysis and decision-making, they are not limited to any particular species or region of the world.
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
What is the change you are trying to make and how do you get there? When it comes down to
complex issues such as human-wildlife conflicts, the answers to these questions are not always as
simple as they may seem. An understanding of the ecological and social dimensions of human-wildlife
conflict itself does not translate naturally into effective management actions. The bridge between
what we know and what we do – between where we are standing today and where we want to reach –
is planning
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
... institutional and political histories, and the histories of the sciences that inform them, shape what conservation organisations prioritise and do in the present (Adams, 2004); the histories of key individuals, communities and other groups are likely to shape their attitudes to other actors and influence the success of interventions (Dowie, 2009). ...
... Cultures of conservation and environmentalism evolve over time (Adams, 2004;Anderson & Grove, 1987;Guha, 2014;Lewis, 2004). Consider the cultural histories of controversial activities like hunting and use of wildlife (MacKenzie, 1988;Ritvo, 1987;Somerville, 2016). ...
... They also worked to have, in 1898, an area of the coun try set aside for their use as a hunt ing pre serve (the Resident Sportsmen's Reserve in Yala). The "pen i tent butch ers" the sis (Adams 2004;Dunlap 1988;Fitter and Scott 1978;MacKenzie 1988: 211;Mangan and McKenzie 2008), which argues that the impe tus for con ser va tion came from big-game hunt ers alarmed by the con se quences of their prac tices, is not true for Sri Lanka; colo nial hunt ers placed the blame for the destruc tion of wild life squarely on the rural peo ple, whose ways of hunt ing were declared ille git i mate and inhu mane. In Sri Lanka, for the most part, there was lit tle acknowl edg ment of the role of Euro pe ans in the destruc tion of the fauna. ...
... " The tac tic that the CGFPS would use, with vary ing suc cess over its his tory, was thus prefigured at its incep tion: lob by ing gov ern ment by using the social and offi cial net works as well as the class ties that linked the soci ety's mem ber ship to those in power. This was also how the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire oper ated (Adams 2004). As the com mand ing officer of the Royal Navy's most impor tant mil i tary base east of Suez, the first CGFPS pres i dent, Admiral William Kennedy, had priv i leged access to the gov er nor and was an impor tant mem ber of the island's small Euro pean soci ety. ...
This article argues that the interests of coffee and tea planters in colonial Sri Lanka shaped the foundations of wildlife conservation policies, in which the state only played a secondary role. By destroying the forests of the highlands, they were the principal architects of ecological change on the island in the nineteenth century. Their principal mode of recreation, hunting, also shaped their engagement with natural history. Some were naturalists in their own right; others funneled specimens and observational data to other students of natural history. They lobbied for the first game laws, not through remorse for their own role in the destruction of wildlife (the “penitent butchers” thesis) but to keep the peasantry from competing for the species that they sought, which had been decimated by the actions of both groups. The way planters engaged with nature, through hunting and the pursuit of natural history, motivated them to preserve what was left of the island's wild fauna.
... Biodiversity conservation is also a social and political process (Lele et al., 2010). Although the ideas of contemporary conservation are Western in origin (Adams, 2004;Meine et al., 2006), diverse cultural and geographic perspectives of conservation are required (Whyte et al., 2016). Conservation biology "rests on the assumption that biological diversity (species, communities, and ecosystems) or aspects of it are good and have intrinsic value or values" (Baumgaertner & Holthuijzen, 2017), but increasingly it embraces a plurality of biodiversity values (Pascual et al., 2021). ...
... It is exacerbated by accelerated land-use change, deforestation, persistent poverty, rapid cultural change (Gardner et al., 2009), and globalization (Davis et al., 2020), including large-scale land acquisition and deforestation (Davis et al., 2020) and wildlife trafficking (Kurland & Pires, 2017). Global drivers interact with local threats to conservation, although local practices can enhance biodiversity (Adams, 2004). These external and local pressures create differences in goals and expectations among groups and individuals. ...
Conservation biology is a "mission driven discipline" that must navigate a new relationship between conservation and science. Since conservation is a social and political as well as an ecological project, conservation biologists must practise interdisciplinarity and collaboration. In this paper we asked: 1) What motivations do conservation biologists have to work with others? (2) With whom could conservation biologists work? (3) How can conservation biologists work well together with other actors? To answer these questions, we conducted a comparative case study analysis across seven cases (Jaguars in the Chaco, Grevy's zebra in Kenya, Beekeeping in Tanzania, Andean cats in Argentina, Jaguars, Lobster fishing, Black bears in Mexico). In five case studies, conservation biologists primarily sought successful conservation outcomes, with secondary livelihood benefits; in the other two, livelihoods were prioritised. All case studies employed participatory approaches with multiple external actors, including local and indigenous communities, NGOs, agencies, regional and national governments and international institutions, for enhanced conservation and wider sustainability outcomes. Key aspects discussed were time (the mismatch between relationship building and project schedules), the trust required for meaningful partnerships, the tools employed and the transformative potential for people, nature and the discipline of conservation biology. We suggest guidelines for collaboration and conclude that, for a sustainable future, conservation biologists should work in partnership. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... While hunting did not transform from being a livelihood strategy of peasants into a gentlemanly hobby following practices in Sweden and England, as Finnish elites of the time envisioned (Adams, 2004;Ylänne, 1950a), hunting advocates had-and continue to have, as we will discuss in the following section-disproportionate power in wildlife management. Elite hunters were in charge of crafting hunting policies, and by extension, they determined the institutionalization of relations between humans and wildlife prior to the first Finnish Nature Conservation Act , exemplifying control grabbing by the classes that held more power (see Borras et al., 2012). ...
... As in other countries, worries about dwindling prey laid the foundations for species conservation in Finland. In North America, and especially in the European colonies in Africa, this led to establishing game sanctuaries, closely linking species conservation with the creation of protected areas (Adams, 2004;Brockington et al., 2008). In Finland, species conservation was only one concern among many with respect to early landscape protection (Borg, 1992;Reunala & Heikinheimo, 1987), whereas hunting conservationists viewed it as the most urgent issue for those able to influence public opinion and law making. ...
To better understand current conflicts related to human–wolf interactions in Finland, this article undertakes a longue‐durée examination of societal structural transformations and how they have influenced ways of relating to nature in the country. Through a world‐ecological perspective, we weave together a historical review and results of ethnographic fieldwork to explain how and why human–wolf relations in Finland transformed from indifferent coexistence to purposeful eradication in the late 19th century and ultimately to contemporary contested protection. We argue that the nature‐making capacities of capitalist development are an integral part of the historical circumstances that led to the eradication of wolves, which was not only the result of animosity towards wolves but also fuelled by the interests of elite hunters. The resulting negative perceptions, coupled with changes in practices and landscapes during the wolf‐less era, are central in current contestations, illustrating the deep ideological, emotional, and practical nature relations that capitalism creates.
... Mammals are the most often crowdfunded animals worldwide [55], and as "flagship species", they can draw more visitors to support in situ conservation, thus helping to fulfill one of the goals of modern zoos [46,52,54,56]. Additionally, most conservation programs in the 20th century were concerned with large mammals [57], and nearly half of all studbooks are kept for mammals [58], which are other important attributes motivating zoos to keep them. ...
Zoos represent a social construct, whose form is influenced by societal development. During the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century, they have been transformed from assembled collections to internationally managed insurance (ex situ) populations, and these transformations required some changes in taxa numbers and composition. Previous studies have already identified the trend of reducing the number of taxa kept in zoos worldwide. The aim of the present study is to verify this trend in Europe in more detail and therefore to identify the changes in taxa richness and mammalian taxa richness from 1959 to 2016 in the same set of 67 European zoos while considering their opening period (before 1900 and 1900–1960) and location with respect to the former Iron Curtain (Eastern vs. Western Bloc). There was no significant decrease in taxa richness; on the contrary, there was a significant increase in taxa richness for the former Eastern Bloc zoos. There was a significant decrease in mammalian taxa richness for zoos opened before 1900 and those of the former Western Bloc. These results demonstrate that mammalian taxa have declined in numbers to some extent and that the decline mostly concerns older zoos and those that have historically reached a different stage of development. This suggests that European zoos have not been subject to trends uniformly and should apply different and appropriate strategies when facing future (not only conservation) challenges.
... Thus, the issue of biodiversity conservation is of considerable importance in the creation of national parks. Often it is carried out using the zoning of national parks, where in some functional areas any human activity is excluded, while in other areas tourism and recreation are allowed [9]. In recent years, human activities and climate change have put increasing pressure on the environment and natural resources. ...
The species diversity of insects from the orders Orthoptera, Dermaptera, Mantodea and Blattodea in the National Park “Smolny” (Republic of Mordovia, Ichalki and Bolshoe Ignatovo districts) was studied. It consists of 44 species: Orthoptera (40), Dermaptera (1), Mantodea (1) and Blattodea (2). For the first time for the Republic of Mordovia, two species are noted – Isophya modesta and Oecanthus pellucens. The most common are Ectobius lapponicus, Chorthippus biguttulus, Euthystira brachyptera. Rare are species confined to areas with sparse herbage (Chorthippus pullus, Dociostaurus brevicollis, Myrmeleotettix maculatus), inhabitants of rich meadows and steppes (Isophya modesta, Poecilimon intermedius, Stenobothrus lineatus), and inhabitants of eutrophic swamps (Conocephalus dorsalis, Stethophyma grossum). Differences in the distribution of two species of cockroaches of the genus Ectobius, two species of grasshoppers of the tribe Chrysochraontini, and three species of bush-crickets (Platycleidini) are described.
... Notions long held throughout Africa that wildlife conservation is a white-man's imposition on black Africans are being revived again (Carruthers, 1995;MacKenzie, 1988;Neumann, 2004;Ranger, 1999). Such sentiments are echoed throughout Asia and the Americas, where local populations often feel brutalized by conservation policies (Adams, 2004;Burnham, 2000). ...
... The nature of these costs and benefits depends upon the protected area's status and governance, as well as its history of use. One of the approaches for the conservation of biodiversity in national parks is the traditional park management approach (protectionism approach) which denies local people access to park resources (Adams 2004). For instance, some national parks restrict access to resource use because of the laws and regulations surrounding a park's establishment. ...
A better understanding of the benefits and costs of conservation to people living adjacent to protected areas is fundamental to balancing their conservation goals and needs. This study based in the Tarangire-Simanjiro ecosystem explored the costs, benefits, and attitudes of local people living adjacent to Tarangire National Park in northern Tanzania. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 respondents randomly selected from the sample of 300 respondents used previously for a larger survey. Results indicate mixed responses toward protected areas. The majority of respondents held positive attitudes toward the park (56.7 percent) and park staff (63.3 percent) but had negative attitudes toward the Simanjiro Plains (53.3 percent). Despite the costs of living in proximity to the park, the majority of respondents viewed the park staff favorably, which may contribute toward improved conservation and increased tolerance. The revenue from ecotourism, support for community development projects, and wildlife protection were the top three perceived benefits, while crop raiding and livestock depredation, restricted access to the park, and clashes with park rangers were the greatest perceived costs. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that interaction with park staff was the predictor of a positive attitude toward the park, while lack of ecotourism benefits and living in the vicinity of the park were predictors of negative attitudes. Attitudes toward the Simanjiro Plains were significantly positively correlated with overall income sufficiency, although older respondents were more likely to express negative attitudes toward it. Most respondents were willing to support large carnivore conservation despite having problems with them. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving positive attitudes toward protected areas should focus on an equitable ecotourism revenue sharing with adjacent communities, positive interactions with park staff, and overall household income sufficiency to win the support of local communities and thus ensure effective conservation of protected areas.
... Various conservation practices and subsequent changes have been largely informed by particular views about nature and society. The main view by western scientists was that of a pristine nature, enshrined in the concept of wilderness (Adams 2013). This nature, therefore, had to be protected from humans, especially the Indigenous peoples whose lifestyles were perceived to be destructive, giving rise to protectionism model of conservation (Otto et al. 2013). ...
... Various conservation practices and subsequent changes have been largely informed by particular views about nature and society. The main view by western scientists was that of a pristine nature, enshrined in the concept of wilderness (Adams 2013). This nature, therefore, had to be protected from humans, especially the Indigenous peoples whose lifestyles were perceived to be destructive, giving rise to protectionism model of conservation (Otto et al. 2013). ...
We critically unpack the term 'coexistence' and discuss its potential to facilitate transformative change in wildlife governance.
... Various conservation practices and subsequent changes have been largely informed by particular views about nature and society. The main view by western scientists was that of a pristine nature, enshrined in the concept of wilderness (Adams 2013). This nature, therefore, had to be protected from humans, especially the Indigenous peoples whose lifestyles were perceived to be destructive, giving rise to protectionism model of conservation (Otto et al. 2013). ...
This chapter introduces the edited book 'Convivial Conservation: From Principles to Practice' and synthesises the contributions through exploration of three overarching themes.
... Various conservation practices and subsequent changes have been largely informed by particular views about nature and society. The main view by western scientists was that of a pristine nature, enshrined in the concept of wilderness (Adams 2013). This nature, therefore, had to be protected from humans, especially the Indigenous peoples whose lifestyles were perceived to be destructive, giving rise to protectionism model of conservation (Otto et al. 2013). ...
Global biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate, leading to calls for urgent change in how humans govern, conserve, and live with non-human species. It is argued that this change must be radical and transformative, and must challenge the structures and systems that shape biodiversity conservation.
This book brings together a diverse group of authors to explore the potential for transforming biodiversity conservation, focusing on one particular proposal called convivial conservation: a vision, framework, and set of principles for a more socially just, democratic and inclusive form of biodiversity governance.
Drawing on a rich mix of disciplinary perspectives and diverse case studies centring on
human-wildlife interactions, the authors demonstrate the potential for transformation in biodiversity conservation that supports human-wildlife coexistence. The authors argue that this desired transformation will only be possible if the status quo is truly disrupted, and that convivial conservation has the potential to contribute to this disruption. However, convivial conservation must evolve in response to, and in harmony with, a plurality of ideas and perspectives, and resist becoming another top-down mode of conservation. To this end, a rich mix of visions, ideas, and pathways are put forward to move convivial conservation from principles to practice.
The wealth of ideas offered in this collection provide important insights for students,
academics, policy-makers, conservation professionals, and anyone who wants to think
differently about biodiversity conservation and explore how it can be transformed towards a more just and abundant future.
... For, they are protected. The DRC currently offers an ideal example whereby bonobo apes are protected (Stanford, 2012;Adams, 2013;Nellemann et al., 2016) and campaigns for protecting them are high on the international agendas while rape victims receive less attention in the same country comparably. People who are still walking barefoot in the 21 st century simply because their rulers either exploited or sold them are no different from apes before those who created such poverty. ...
Africa has always blamed external colonisation for its Catch-22s such as violent ethnic conflicts for the struggle for resource control, perpetual exploitation, poverty, and general underdevelopment all tacked to its past, which is a fact, logical, and the right to pour out vials of ire based perpetual victimhood it has clung to, and maintained, and lost a golden chance of addressing another type of colonialism, specifically internal colonisation presided over by black traitors or black betrayers or blats or blabes.
Basically, internalised internal colonisation is but a mimesis of Africa’s nemesis, namely external colonisation as another major side of the jigsaw-cum-story all those supposed to either clinically address or take it on, have, by far, never done so for their perpetual peril. In addressing internal colonisation, this corpus explores and interrogates the narratives and nuances of the terms it uses. The untold story of Africa is about internal colonisation that has eluded many for many years up until now simply because it made Africans wrongly believe that it is only external colonisation their big and only enemy.
... Su aparición supuso un cambio de paradigma: el inicio de la ruptura con los programas de conservación de AP regidos por la idea de la naturaleza salvaje y prístina y por dinámicas hegemónicas colonialistas, encapsuladas en la figura de Parque Nacional (paradigma Yellowstone). El denominado modelo de conservación fortaleza (Brockington, 2002), donde imperaba la imposición de la conservación a través de cercamientos, expropiaciones, desplazamientos forzosos e incluso genocidios de población local, irá siendo poco a poco desterrado (Adams, 2004;West, Igoe & Brockington, 2006). Aunque no se terminó con este patrón, que se ha mantenido en algunos contextos e incluso replicado y actualizado en nuevas formas y apariencias, esta mudanza de paradigma permitiría legitimar y justificar la introducción de medidas de conservación en AP habitadas, lo que multiplicará las posibilidades territoriales y políticas para su implantación en las décadas siguientes. ...
Este número especial responde a la necesidad de preguntarse cómo se construyó la red de Áreas Protegidas (AP)[1] en los distintos territorios de España, tras la arquitectura del Estado de autonomías aprobado por la Constitución de 1978. Diversos factores condicionaron el desarrollo de las políticas de conservación en cada una de las comunidades autónomas (CC.AA.). En este monográfico nos acercamos a tres de ellas –Andalucía, Catalunya y Comunitat Valenciana–, dibujando sus trayectorias y buscando una comparación con el propósito de alcanzar una mayor comprensión del presente.
... The recognition that global efforts to maintain biodiversity could be in conflict with those to reduce poverty is not new -see Wells (1992); Norton-Griffiths and Southey (1995); Brockington (2002); Sanderson and Redford (2003). Since the late nineteenth century the conventional response to the threats of decline of natural populations, extinction of species and habitat degradation as a consequence of industrial development has been the creation of protected areas (Adams, 2004). The problem is that, in the case of reserves, this strategy can have substantial negative impacts on local people. ...
... There is substantial anthropological evidence that how we understand nature depends on who we are, what we know, the people we meet (Adams, 2004), and the socio-historical context in which we live. Nevertheless, the findings of studies arguing that the socio-historical context has a vital role (ibid.: 221). ...
This article investigates the relationship between the socio-historical representation of the environment and socio-metabolic regimes in the case of the Spanish state. For this purpose, 70 interviews and three focus groups were conducted with different social actors. This qualitative study has been complemented by reconstructing per capita trends in the material footprint. The results show three differentiated regimes. First, before the 1960s, we found an era predominantly characterized by an agricultural economy, and the environment was understood as a source of livelihood. Material use was between 3 and 6 tons/capita/year. After the 1960s, economic modernization started, and natural resources were considered unlimited. The transition from an agrarian to an industrial socio-metabolic regime was inherently linked to a surge in material use per capita. In the 1980s, political modernization began, and the consumption of materials on average is currently between 14 and 27 tons/capita/year. However, when the material footprint has reached the highest amount, the environment is considered a product of economic growth and a post-material value. Post-materialism's historical and social specifics promote a social representation of the environment that hinges on separating lived practices from the environmental impacts these practices have produced. The resulting environmental concern may not benefit the environment. Conclusions highlight a need to rescue social representations of the environment that relate to the environmental impact of lifestyles.
... This approach to nature conservation is characterized by a top-down perspective based on surveillance and enforcement that denies or severely restricts local communities' access to the forest. The "fortress" reference underlines the defensive and exclusive logic aimed at the protection of a hypothetical "wilderness" that can only be preserved by separating the forest from humans (Adams, 2004). ...
The book analyzes the case of Mau Forest (Kenya), exploring the deforestation process that has occurred and the controversial and changing relationships between a protected forest and the communities living within and around its borders. The volume contributes to the international debate on political ecology from a predominantly geographical perspective, enriched by contributions more closely related to the natural sciences. The study is based on a multi-year research (2017-22) that combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies: research in archives and government offices, field studies in the forest area, semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping with local community members, and satellite and drone remote sensing.
Open Access through https://libri.unimi.it/index.php/milanoup/catalog/book/89
... Early US-American national parks were a cornerstone of conservation around the world. According to ADAMS (2004), they had three characteristic features that would have implications for future generations of conservationists around the world. First, they were created based on the alleged premise that the lands were completely natural, unmanaged and uninhabited by humans. ...
In 1995, the Second International Biosphere Reserve Congress in Seville resulted in a set of new regulations that spurred a significant paradigm shift in the UNESCO Man and Bio-sphere (MAB) Programme, reconceptualizing the research programme as a modern instrument for the dual mandate of nature conservation and sustainable development. But almost 20 years later, a large proportion of biosphere reserves designated before 1996 still did not comply with the new regulations. In 2013, the International Coordination Council of the MAB Programme announced the ‘Exit Strategy’ to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. However, the strategy also meant that 266 biosphere reserves in 76 member states were faced with the possibility of exclusion from the world network.
This study presents a global assessment of the challenges that result from the Exit Strategy and the Process of Excellence and Enhancement that follows. Specifically, it investigates the differences in quality management strategies and the periodic review processes of various biosphere reserves, the effects of those quality management strategies on the MAB Programme and on the 76 directly affected member states, and the interlinkages between the MAB Programme and other UNESCO designations for nature conservation: the natural World Heritage Sites and the Global Geoparks.
Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with 31 participants in 21 different countries, representing all UN regions. To showcase the diversity of the World Network of Bio-sphere Reserves, 20 country-specific case studies are presented, highlighting the challenges of implementing the biosphere reserve concept and, more specifically, the periodic review process. Information gleaned from the experts was transcribed and evaluated using a qualitative content analysis method.
The results of this study demonstrate major differences worldwide in the implementation biosphere reserves, especially in the case of the national affiliation of the MAB Programme, the legal recognition of biosphere reserves in national legislation, the usage of the term ‘bio-sphere reserve’ and the governance structures of the biosphere reserves. Of those represented by the case studies, the four countries with the highest number of voluntary biosphere reserves withdrawals after 2013, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria and the United States of America, show that the Exit Strategy contributed to the streamlining and quality enhancement of the world network. The biosphere reserves in those countries were strictly nature conservation areas without human settlements and were designated as such in the 1970s and 1980s. Only post-Seville biosphere reserves remain in those countries. Some experts have pointed out that there appears to be competition for political attention and funding between the three UNESCO labels for nature conservation. While a combination of the designation of biosphere reserves and World Heritage Sites in one place is favoured by experts, Global Geoparks and Biosphere Reserves are seen as being in competition with each other.
This study concludes that quality enhancement strategies were fundamental to improving the credibility and coherence of the MAB Programme. Most pre-Seville biosphere reserves were adapted or the member states were encouraged to withdraw them voluntarily. Challenges in implementing the Exit Strategy were not unique to individual countries but applied equally to all member states with pre-Seville sites. Over the course of the quality enhancement process, many UNESCO member states have become more involved with the MAB Programme, which has led to rejuvenation of the national biosphere reserves network in many countries.
... Globally, there has been a wide variation in the 'officialisation' and use of protected areas. More often than not, though, these protected areas leave an imprint of leisure, hunting, tourism, economic agendas and large-scale environmental destruction on the natural landscape (Adams, 2004;Adams & Hutton, 2007;Kelleher, 1999)all while physically and economically displacing dependent communities (Brockington, 2008). ...
Africa is known for its pristine destinations, mainly associated with rich fauna
and flora. This explains the existence of vast material, written and visual on rural
environments or nature-based destinations. However, little has been written on
urban tourism within an African context except South Africa with some remarkable
work on slum tourism. The link between urban risks, urban tourism and
sustainable development has also been limitedly explored in the academia and
under-researched in the Global South, especially on the African continent. This
book provides theoretical and empirical evidence on the interactions between
urban risks, tourism and sustainable development in sub-Saharan African urban
spaces. At the backdrop of vast natural, cultural and historical resources in African
urban areas are numerous environmental, social and political challenges. The
book, therefore, provides in-depth analysis of the linkages between tourism and
urban risk in African cities, towns and townships. This book is a toolkit of the
urban tourism development on the African continent, valuable to tourism, geography
and social science students and practitioners. The discussion on tourism
and urban risk provides a platform to interrogate possible efficient development
approaches on tourism in urban spaces. This volume showcases the many facets
of urban tourism through examining broad and localized empirical studies
and conceptual frameworks. It addresses the underlying issues of governance,
power, ownership, collaboration, justice, community empowerment and policies
that influence tourism decision-making at local, national and regional levels. It
further contributes to understanding the intricate relationships between tourism
stakeholders across the social, class, racial and national strands.
... Entre esas áreas se creó la RNLL en 1912, de la cual surgió posteriormente el PNAA en 1982. Este proceso es semejante a la creación de áreas protegidas en contextos de colonización, tal como lo describen Adams (2004) y Barringer (2002), particularmente la creación del Parque Nacional Yellowstone. ...
... Entre esas áreas se creó la RNLL en 1912, de la cual surgió posteriormente el PNAA en 1982. Este proceso es semejante a la creación de áreas protegidas en contextos de colonización, tal como lo describen Adams (2004) y Barringer (2002), particularmente la creación del Parque Nacional Yellowstone. ...
La exclusión por acción u omisión de las comunidades locales en el manejo de las áreas protegidas, conocida como ‘conservación fortaleza’, es una práctica que persiste a pesar del amplio consenso teórico que promueve una mayor integración de la población local en la conservación de la biodiversidad. Este artículo presenta el caso de estudio de dos áreas protegidas en el bosque templado del sur de Chile en donde, a través del mapeo de actores y el análisis de redes sociales, se ha indagado sobre el grado de vinculación social entre múltiples actores con interés y/o influencia en el área protegida y su zona de amortiguación. Los resultados muestran una baja densidad de relaciones sociales, alta fragmentación de la red social en torno a intereses sectoriales (agricultura, pesca, turismo, entre otras), así como un significativo nivel de aislamiento social del área protegida. Este aislamiento es explicado, en parte, por la existencia de un modelo de manejo del área protegida que no ha incorporado, principalmente por omisión, la participación activa de la amplia variedad de actores locales y regionales, en especial de las comunidades. Esta omisión ha generado un escenario territorial adverso para la gobernanza del área protegida y su zona de amortiguación, creando una situación de riesgo al polarizar la conservación y el desarrollo en el territorio.
... Entre esas áreas se creó la RNLL en 1912, de la cual surgió posteriormente el PNAA en 1982. Este proceso es semejante a la creación de áreas protegidas en contextos de colonización, tal como lo describen Adams (2004) y Barringer (2002), particularmente la creación del Parque Nacional Yellowstone. ...
... It is now evident that these challenges have gradually been increasing as a result of human-led actions. The use of resources for the local subsistence in developing countries who are only dependent on the local ecology has often put pressure on the remaining natural resources (Adams, 2004). This has made it necessary to employ various approaches and interventions from a number of global and local interest groups and alliances from regional and international conservation authorities at different levels. ...
Nature conservation has often been depicted as an effective policy measure to redress the ongoing environmental problems across the globe. The need to ensure sustainability for people’s secured subsistence has rendered nature conservation an indispensable scheme in the tourism development policy. It is evident that during the last couple of decades, the notion of “conservation” has become less established whilst tourism development has been prioritised as a profit making venture by both the national and international agencies. Numerous solutions have been prescribed by international organisations adopting tourism as an “immense potentiality” which mostly represented a sustainability effort for the local development and environment. South Asia in general and Bangladesh, in particular, are no different, since policy for nature conservation has been misplaced and misread to reach sustainability goals, as it has always been connected with the tourism development agenda. From a systematic literature review, it was found that the use of natural resources by local people was exemplified as a threat to sustainability where the relations between conservation and tourism became a policy issue. The paper intends to problematise the mechanism of tourism policies for nature conservation or conservation policies for tourism development that overlooks the local eco-cultural management practice for sustainability. Along with the environmental discourses, an eco-cultural critique on sustainability was employed.
... This changed in June of 1970 with the creation of TNP, which encompassed a larger area including Silale swamp. As with other NPs in Africa, this was to create more permanent and strict protection modeled on US parks, and centered on the ideas of protecting nature for the national interest and generating tourism revenues (Adams, 2013). Local communities were not consulted. ...
The IPBES Scoping document for the values assessment highlights the need to assess the types of values of nature that have (or have not) been incorporated into decision-making, the types of valuation approaches incorporated into decision-making, the challenges that have hindered the incorporation of diverse conceptualizations of values of nature in a range of decision and policymaking contexts and the implications for different stakeholders. In this context a literature & case-study review was conducted to examine how values are articulated by diverse stakeholders through protected area policies and other conservation schemes including indigenous community conserved areas (ICCAs), and how they come to influence outcomes. Through this review we address the following questions:
What types of protected area impacts are most frequently studied, what valuation methods are used to assess these impacts, and where are the gaps in the evidence on the impacts of protected areas?
What enabling conditions related to protected area design and implementation processes are linked to more beneficial social and environmental impacts?
What aspects of the decision process and specifically the inclusion of marginalised values and the values of marginalised people in decision-making are associated with improvements in well-being, sustainability and justice?
... The global rush for mineral extraction began in the early 2000s when many countries liberalized their mining sector (Jacka 2018), while the rush for farmland accelerated later around the food and fnancial crises in 2008 (Alden Wily 2012). A new wave of conservation interventions emerged in the early 1990s when community-based conservation initiatives started to spread outside national parks and reserves (Adams 2004). The most recent land-based expansion is the growth of mega-infrastructure projects, epitomized by the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and the re-emergence of development 'corridors', especially in Africa (Chome et al. 2020;Haller et al. forthcoming). ...
Change is of all times, but it would appear that in the drylands of Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia/Inner Asia it is happening in an overwhelming manner. Climate change, growing political instability, and increasing enclosures of large expanses of land are some of the changes with far-reaching consequences for those who make their living in the drylands. This edited volume is about the changes that arise from the entanglement of global interests and narratives with the local struggles that have always existed in the drylands. In this chapter, the notion of ‘frontier’ is proposed as a metaphor to frame this entanglement and as a way to bring the different chapters in the volume together. Overviews of the chapters show that to understand the full politics of frontier processes, analytical approaches are necessary that take into account historical institutional changes and different forms of power relations.
... Globally, the creation of protected areas has often resulted in the displacement of natural resource-based activities and livelihoods (Adams 2004). As a conservation approach, removing people and their livelihoods from land has been described by Brockington (2002) as fortress conservation. ...
Grazing lands supporting livestock production and nature conservation exemplify land sharing conservation. In California, livestock producers own or manage a large portion of land with the highest biodiversity ecosystems. Grazing reduces flammable biomass and can benefit habitat of numerous rare and endangered species. However, the role of grazing, livestock production, and rancher stewardship in conservation is often overlooked. Spatial analysis shows a significant contribution of grazing lands to conservation in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) that is not recognized in regional planning analyses. Lands protected for conservation cover nearly 0.5 million ha, or 29% of the SFBA, and 43% of the protected land is grazing land. Over 65% of the region’s land described as essential or important to conservation by the regional planning network is grazing land. A case study review is used to examine in greater depth the management dynamics of partial-title acquisition of grazing land for conservation. Exacted conservation easements, a type of easement fulfilling mitigation requirements for land development, are growing in use in the SFBA and throughout California, and they are well funded by development interests to support conservation. Political ecology theory terms a redefinition of territory that can displace resource users and enable others to benefit from newly created economic values, reterritorialization and capital accumulation. A case study of exacted easements on SFBA ranches reveals how the resulting redefining of the land’s purpose and the significance of its various ecosystem services provides funding for third parties for new services required to implement and uphold the easements, but not necessarily to support land sharing and the ranching livelihood that provides grazing needed for habitat management. Planning that considers the needs of the livestock operation would increase the probability of achieving desired conservation outcomes and the durability of appropriate habitat conditions.
... Various conservation practices and subsequent changes have been largely informed by particular views about nature and society. The main view by western scientists was that of a pristine nature, enshrined in the concept of wilderness (Adams 2013). This nature, therefore, had to be protected from humans, especially the indigenous peoples whose lifestyles were perceived to be destructive, giving rise to protectionism model of conservation (Otto et al. 2013). ...
In Organized Environmental Crime, Daan van Uhm breaks new ground by rejecting the classic image of organized crime as specializing in one kind of criminal activity. Instead, he develops an innovative approach to understanding how organized crime groups diversify into the illegal trade in natural resources by looking at the convergence between environmental crime and other serious crimes.
Personal stories from informants directly involved in organized crime networks offer unique insights into the black markets in gold, wildlife, and timber in three environmental crime hotspots: the Darién Gap, a remote swath of jungle on the Colombia-Panama border in Latin America; the Golden Triangle, a notorious opium epicenter in Southeast Asia; and the eastern edge of the Congo basin, an important conflict area in Central Africa.
The proliferation of organized environmental crime exacerbates the global destruction of ancient rainforests; the mass extinction of species; and the pollution of the atmosphere, land, and water, negatively affecting planet Earth. By uncovering its incentives, features, and harms, this book is crucial to understanding organized environmental crime in a rapidly changing world.
The proposal on the Anthropocene suggests that the Earth has entered a contemporary ecological era, in which climate changes and human activities massively impact the environment universally. This new anthropogenic epoch brings exceptional challenges to the plant diversity in biocultural landscapes, thus preventing their benefits to human well-being. Additionally, the loss of biodiversity is exacerbating along with the inexorable variations in the Anthropocene, and biodiversity conservation could not cope with the elevating anthropogenic disturbances. Despite the enduring biodiversity loss, it is asserted that the effective amalgamation of several conservational strategies could contribute to the efficient conservation of endangered plants. The strategies should be specified with proper operative guidelines for monitoring the effect once it gets implemented. Therefore, the current conservational practices should be reconsidered, reexamined, and updated accordingly so that a more consistent, logical, and integrated universal strategy could be devised which will alleviate the limitations of the existing policies and proposed protocols. This book chapter addresses the major issues that address our failure to meet current conservational strategies and also discusses the essential changes and recommendations to existing conservational practices.KeywordsAnthropogenic disturbanceBiodiversityClimate changeConservationHuman activities
Recent debates regarding conservation's proper objectives have been underlain by the more fundamental question of what conservation is and what it is not. In this essay, I elaborate and justify the following definition: the promotion (or the intended promotion) of the continued existence of valuable things in the living world in extended human time. I then use this definition to ask whether two recent proposals, so-called new conservation and compassionate conservation, are truly conservation. In asking these questions, I explore how conservation relates to ecological change and to the welfare of nonhuman animals. I end by situating conservation within the broader array of societal relations with the living world.
This book is the first ever written on English marine conservation regulation from a socio-legal perspective. The monograph presents an in-depth analysis of key aspects of Marine Protected Areas regulation in England, offering the reader access to an under-investigated field. Such regulatory mapping is complemented by an interdisciplinary treatment of the subject exploring the relationship between people and marine parks through central themes in environmental social sciences and regulatory theory, namely space, rationalisation, democracy and adaptation. Thus, the book is of interest to environmental lawyers and regulatory scholars but also to human geographers, environmental sociologists and political scientists. As the book provides critical reflections on current legal and regulatory structures, it contains valuable insights for policymakers and regulators. The book has a strong methodological basis drawing on in-depth desk-based research, complemented by primary qualitative research, conducted over a number of years.
Since 1993 the Serengeti Regional Conservation Project (SRCP) in Tanzania has conducted a game cropping operation (the commercial utilization of wild animal populations in natural habitats) in areas immediately outside the Serengeti National Park in order to provide adjacent villages with incentives to abstain from illegal hunting. In this study we carry out a comparative economic analysis of the SRCP cropping operation and illegal hunting. The extent of illegal hunting was mapped by utilising questionnaires distributed to Village Game Scouts employed in five of the Project villages. Our research indicates that the cropping operation is not economically sustainable and makes only a minor economic contribution to the Project villages compared to illegal hunting. Furthermore, cropping quotas are small, utilization of quotas low, and the level of community involvement limited. Illegal hunting was extensive around both Project and other villages. We suggest that SRCP discard the inefficient cropping operation and instead concentrate on diversifying income opportunities for the Project villages.
This paper examines the material and symbolic roles played by national parks in British colonial attempts to impose a particular way of seeing the landscape and to reshape African ways of being. The narrative concerns the history of the establishment of what was meant to be the first national park in British-ruled Africa, Serengeti. It is based almost exclusively on archival documents from the early years of the British mandate to the eve of Tanganyikan (now Tanzania) independence. It highlights and examines the tensions and contradictions which were produced in the recasting of Tanganyikan society and landscape. These tensions and contradictions intersected at Serengeti with the Africans resident there, particularly the Maasai, caught in their net. -from Author
The transnational nature of environmental problems has highlighted the need for cooperation between nation‐states. In southern Africa the field of wildlife conservation has already witnessed a growth in multinational conservation schemes. The Trans Border Conservation Area or ‘superpark’ which incorporates parts of Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa is a good example. While the ecological and economic basis of the superpark has been agreed, political factors have slowed its implementation. This article explores the political context of the superpark proposal within Zimbabwe, and analyses why the Zimbabwean state has proved to be less enthusiastic than its partners. In particular, it examines the internal disagreements in the ruling party and in the Parks Department which have proved to be significant stumbling blocks for wildlife conservation. The troubled history of the area covered by the superpark is investigated, including the impact of military forces from the three partner states and poaching operations in the 1980s. All of these factors have impacted on the Zimbabwean state's willingness to cede control to a transnational park authority.
National parks and wildlife sanctuaries are under threat both physically and as a social ideal in Indonesia following the collapse of the Suharto New Order regime (1967-1998). Opinion-makers perceive parks as representing elite special interest, constraining economic development and/or indigenous rights. We asked what was the original intention and who were the players behind the Netherlands Indies colonial government policy of establishing nature 'monuments' and wildlife sanctuaries. Based on a review of international conservation literature, three inter-related themes are explored: a) the emergence in the 1860-1910 period of new worldviews on the human-nature relationship in western culture; b) the emergence of new conservation values and the translation of these into public policy goals, namely designation of protected areas and enforcement of wildlife legislation, by international lobbying networks of prominent men; and 3) the adoption of these policies by the Netherlands Indies government.
This paper provides evidence that the root motivations of protected area policy are noble, namely: 1) a desire to preserve sites with special meaning for intellectual and aesthetic contemplation of nature; and 2) acceptance that the human conquest of nature carries with it a moral responsibility to ensure the survival of threatened life forms. Although these perspectives derive from elite society of the American East Coast and Western Europe at the end of the nineteenth century, they are international values to which civilised nations and societies aspire. It would be a tragedy if Indonesia rejects these social values and protected areas because subsequent management polices have associated protected areas with aspects of the colonial and New Order regime that contemporary society seeks to reform.
The black rhino will be exterminated soon in northern Tanzania if poaching is not stopped, says the author, after surveying eight national parks and game reserves, either from the air or on the ground, or both. Tanzania is making great efforts to stop the poaching, but essential equipment is desperately short, and much more outside help is needed.
In the Amboseli area of southern Kenya, efforts to resolve conflicts between Maasai pastoralists and wildlife have been made by conservationists and government authorities since the 1950s. In 1977, a new programme was initiated to involve the Maasai in direct benefits from a National Park which was created in their critical grazing lands. This article analyses the problems encountered in Amboseli with a brief summary of their historical background and a more detailed description of the recent developments. The discussion centres on the specific circumstances of Amboseli, but should apply more generally to the problem of reconciling nature conservation with indigenous peoples' land tenure and use. -from Author
The current interest in community-based wildlife management and wildlands development in sub-Saharan Africa must be viewed within the context of evolving approaches to natural resource preservation. An approach to reconciling rural development and conservation has been advocated through community-based wildlife management. A number of projects emphasizing this approach have been established in recent years, and many more are currently being set up. The following chapter discusses the economic potential of community-based wildlife management in Africa as the "new phase' of conservation-led development. Two examples, the CAMPFIRE programme in Zimbabwe and the Luangwe Integrated Resource Development Project (LIRDP) in Zambia, are discussed to illustrate some of the potential as well as the problems of such schemes. -from Author
The local pastoral herdsmen in this part of southern Kenya exerted increasing pressures on wildlife because it contributed nothing to their own economy even though the value of wildlife nationally through tourism was considerable. A 15-yr program is described which attempts to create an integrated use of the ecosystem by including the Masai landowners in the benefits from the national park. -from Author
T
he concept of sustainability first came to public notice in Wes Jackson’s work on agriculture in the late 1970s (Jackson 1980), Lester Brown’s Building a Sustainable Society (Brown 1980), and The World Conservation Strategy (Allen 1980). The Brundtland Commission made it a central feature of its 1987 report, defining it as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). Their definition confused sustainable growth, an oxymoron, and sustainable development, a possibility. Ambiguities notwithstanding, the concept of sustainability has become the keystone of the global dialogue about the human future. But what exactly do we intend to sustain, and what will that require of us?
Describes the origins, development and current status of the nature conservation movement in the UK, with an examination of the ways in which the various pressure and interest groups and different institutional and (quasi)governmental organisations have reached similar or disparate conclusions. The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949) and the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) are key points in the story, but much has been enacted before, between and since these pieces of legislation. Relations between conservationists and farmers, foresters, fisheries and urban growth are a recurrent theme. The author queries the achievements of both government and conservation bodies at a time of global conscience and the would-be greening of the environment. -P.J.Jarvis
Conservation-with-Development (CWD) has been taken up by conservation bodies and development agencies as a way of maintaining biological diversity through promoting the development and involvement of local people. One of the longest running purpose-designed CWD projects is located in the East Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, which support an important and rich forest ecosystem containing numerous endemic species of flora and fauna. The area also maintains a human population which is increasingly turning to the forest for its livelihood. The cases for conservation and for development, and how far the two objectives are mutually compatible, are discussed. The East Usambaras Agricultural Development and Environmental Conservation project is involved in a diversity of activities, ranging from village industry to forest protection, and demonstrates not only the difficulty of managing such a complex project but also some of the conflicts between environmental conservation and participatory rural development. We conclude that CWD projects are complicated, lack a clearly-defined rationale and methodology and need to be made more distinct from multi-sectoral integrated rural development approaches.
African river valleys have been major targets for rural development planners, and today many are dammed and have associated irrigation schemes on the floodplains. Others have been exploited for urban and industrial uses. These schemes are discussed and contrasted with the indigenous economies of sub-Saharan Africa and the strengths and diversity of African's responses to their water needs. Chapter 2 gives a general summary of African economies and agriculture, and the nature of indigenous technical knowledge. The following chapter presents basic information on Africa's environment, rainfall and rivers and how they are used by Africans. This analysis is extended in the next chapter, which focuses specifically on floodplain wetlands and their importance to the agricultural and food systems. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss river basin planning and dam construction, respectively. Chapter 7 looks at the record of large-scale irrigation schemes; the final chapter discusses the possibility of developing indigenous irrigation systems, rehabilitating some of the large failed projects, and the prospect for introducing controlled flood events on dammed rivers. -M.Amos
Human intervention in natural ecosystems was mapped using a three-category system indicating different levels of anthropogenic disturbance: undisturbed, partially disturbed, and human dominated. Source data were transferred onto a set of 10 equal-area base maps covering the world. The maps were digitized for analysis. The surface area of each region and the proportion in each of the three disturbance categories was determined, as well as a derived index of remaining natural habitat. Nearly 90 million km2 of undisturbed land remains on the planet, roughly 52% of earth's terrestrial area. However, the habitable portion of the planet, with areas of rock, ice, and barren land removed, is nearly three-quarters disturbed in some way. The biological significance of the global pattern of disturbance was assessed by examining disturbance categories for the eight biogeographic realms of Udvardy. Methodological advancements of this study over earlier efforts included an improved mapping resolution, and expanded categorization system, and employment of an ecologically-based definition of habitat. -from Authors
In the debt-ridden, high-population-growth, resource-mining states of the Congo Basin, conservation of biodiversity is seldom the primary concern of national policy makers or of local resource users. Moreover, the recurring costs of managing protected areas and the opportunity costs of forgoing logging and farming to maintain protected areas are a substantial net drain on national and local economies. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly important that protected areas generate, from user fees or donor contributions, sufficient funds to offset the costs of maintaining them. Government and donor investment currently meet less than 30 per cent of the estimated recurring costs required to manage the protected-area network within central African countries effectively, and cover none of the growing opportunity costs. Nature tourism, the fastest growing sector of the $US3 trillion (3 million million) a year global tourism, industry, may offer a source of revenue to help fill this gap in funds. Congo Basin national parks and reserves harbour many charismatic animals (okapi, lowland gorilla, mandrills, bongo, forest elephant) that are likely to attract tourists, and as a result many protected-area managers are sinking capital into the development of tourist infrastructure. This paper reviews the evidence for ecotourism's capacity to generate revenue for protected-area management and appraises the financial viability of nature tourism in the Congo Basin.
Oil pollution of the sea used to be caused mainly by deliberate dumping of waste oil. Today this problem could be almost mastered by the ‘load on top’ system, but the chief cause remains accidents to tankers such as the Torrey Canyon. In this report on the Rome conference on the subject, held in October 1968, Lieutenant Colonel Boyle, former FPS secretary and a member of the British Advisory Committee on Oil Pollution of the Sea who represented the FPS, describes the working of the ‘load on top’ system and the discussions on the new problem. Lord Jellicoe, Chairman of the British Committee, presided at the conference.
This paper outlines the concept of environmental sustain-ability (ES), shows why it is important to make it a top-priority goal, and why that will be difficult to attain but essential. The ES equation of impact = population × affluence × technology, is outlined. When the world approaches stability in both population size and the throughput of energy and materials per unit of production, we may indeed be approaching sustainability. As the world's population is apt to double every 40 years, and as only a few countries ( e.g. Japan and Sweden) have managed so far to reduce the energy intensity of production, we are hurtling away from sustainability rather than even approaching it. Environmental sustainability can be approached by implementing four priorities: first, by using sound microeconomic means; second, by using sound macroeconomics to differentiate between use and liquidation of natural capital by means of environmental accounting; third, by using environmental assessment to incorporate environmental costs into project appraisal; and fourth—until the first three become fully achieved—by following operational guidelines for sustainability. Thus:
1) Sound Microeconomic Means involve: (1) Getting the prices right: to reflect full social marginal opportunity cost; use the ‘full cost’ principle, or the ‘cradle-to-grave’ approach. (2) Repealing perverse fiscal incentives. (3) Strengthening the ‘polluter pays’ principles. (4) Including non-monetary values in project justification. (5) Adopting the transparency principle that markets can function efficiently only if relevant information is available at low cost. This involves the participation of people in decisions affecting them, and advertising who is polluting what and by how much.
2) Sound Macroeconomics by Environmental Accounting is essential to discern decapitalization and to shift to using income rather than drawing down capital assets. Environmental accounting clarifies what is liquidation of natural capital from what is income. This is essential because decapitalization is frequently confused as income. Environmental accounting warns us when liquidation of potentially renewable resources exceeds their regeneration rates, such as in many forests.
3) Environmental Assessment is part of the project selection process. The purpose of EA is to ensure that the development options under consideration are environmentally sustainable. Any environmental consequences should be addressed in project selection, planning, siting, and design. EAs identify ways of preventing, minimizing, mitigating, or compensating for, adverse impacts.
4) Sustainability Guidelines: Until the first three rules are heeded and duly acted on, the following guidelines will be necessary: 1, Output Rule: —waste emissions from a project should be within the assimilative capacity of the local environment to absorb without unacceptable de-gradation of its future waste-absorptive capacity; and 2, Input Guide: —harvest rates or renewable resource inputs should be within regenerative capacity of the natural system that generates them. Depletion rates of non-renewable resource inputs should not exceed the rate at which renewable substitutes are developed by human invention and investment.
Project Tiger was launched by the World Wildlife Fund in 1972. The author, who was closely involved in the project, examines the progress ten years later.
The wildlife of the Jordanian deserts was shot out in the 1950s. As a first step towards restoring it, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in Jordan has set up a captive breeding unit at its Shaumari Reserve, eight miles from the great oasis of Azraq. Though the first occupants are likely to be gazelles, by the time this issue appears there may well be four male Arabian oryx also. These, the foundation of what it is hoped will be the first captive herd of Arabian oryx in Arabia deriving from Operation Oryx, have been presented to Jordan by the Trustees of the World Herd of Arabian Oryx, now located at Phoenix and San Diego Zoos in the USA. There are a number of other captive herds of local origin already in the Arabian peninsula, including the well known one in Qatar.
The whale has become a symbol of world concern for the preservation of wildlife, concern mostly by people who have not the faintest idea that there is more than one kind of whale, and who do not care about these distinctions anyway. So on the opening day of this year's International Whaling Commission meeting, June 25th, in London, readers of The Times were greeted with a half-page advertisement illustrated with a vertical picture of the blue whale, and titled ‘One is killed every 20 minutes. Is this carnage really necessary?’. The ensuing appeal for the implementation of the Stockholm Conference's call for a ten-year moratorium on commercial whaling was signed by twenty distinguished conservationists, headed by TRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and the Duke of Edinburgh, and nine conservation bodies, including the Fauna Preservation Society, which contributed £200 towards the cost. The FPS Chairman, Sir Peter Scott, and two Vice-Presidents, Sir Frank Fraser Darling and Sir Julian Huxley, were among the individual signatories, who also included the President and Director-General of IUCN, Commander Jacques Cousteau, Professors Jean Dorst and Rene Dubos, Dr Paul Ehrlich, Dr Thor Heyerdahl, Dr Konrad Lorenz, Dr Sicco Mansholt, and the Chairman of the Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), Dr J. E. Smith.
A long required and most urgent need in the education of the “Children of the Country” is being made possible by the generosity and far-sightedness of the Ndola Lottery Board Committee. They have made a grant of £5,000 to our Game Preservation and Hunting Association for the construction of a permanent camp in the Kafue National Park.
Independence for Malaysia and the resulting hostilities with Indonesia have led to changes affecting wildlife as well as humans and not always for the worse. Not only was the smuggling of animals via Singapore stopped dead, which particularly affected orang utans, and the sale of firearms and ammunition drastically controlled, with already noticeable effects on some animal populations, but the new leaders feel strongly about national assets going out of the country, whether antiques or animals, with the result that more has been done for wildlife in the past two years man in decades before. The real killer, says the author, who is Curator of the Sarawak Museum, is timber felling with vastly accelerated techniques which take machines up to 1000 ft. and lay whole jungles by the square mile a day.
It is now feasible to eradicate nearly all the existing foci of tsetse fly from Africa, by means of insecticides. The operation would greatly reduce trypanosomiasis but, even if carried out to completion, would not eliminate it. Advantages would fall to cattle graziers and meat eaters in the cities, not to the vast majority of rural Africans. There are now good theoretical reasons for suggesting that tsetse eradication causes serious ecological degradation involving climatic change. The testing of this hypothesis by satellite scanning should be given priority over the funding of further large scale eradication schemes.
The paper marks the fiftieth anniversary of the wartime beginnings of the modern nature-conservation movement in the U.K. First a Conference on Nature Preservation in Post-war Reconstruction, and then a Nature Reserves Investigation Committee and a special committee of the British Ecological Society, explored the concept and requirements of a series of national nature reserves. Lists of such sites were drawn up. Through the increasing participation of ecologists in such discussions, the word “conservation” was adopted to imply a more positive, forward-looking approach to nature protection. It was recommended that the reserves should be made the responsibility of the science, rather than the planning, sector of Government, as part of a wider institutional development of post-war ecological research in the U.K. The appointment of the Nature Conservancy in 1949 marked the realisation of those aspirations.
Traces Western conservationism from it roots in colonial exploitation during the mideighteenth century when scientists employed by trading companies voiced concern over large-scale ecological changes. Indicates that our contemporary understanding of the threat to the global environment is a reassertion of ideas that reached maturity over a century ago. (JJK)
The Australian nature conservation movement is effectively entering its second century of existence and this transition has prompted a degree of reflection about the strategies used hitherto. After going through boom years - as part of a broader environmental movement - from the 1970s until the early 1990s, a more difficult political environment in the second half of the 1990s has sparked a semi-public discussion about priorities and future strategies. This article argues that the debate about future conservation strategies needs to tackle two important legacies that have become increasingly problematic: a lingering 'frontier mentality' that fosters a separation between people and 'pristine nature'; and a heavy reliance on scientific expertise and rational arguments for conservation. This dual legacy has blinded the movement to the aesthetic appeal of the romantic philosophical tradition in ecology and the importance of sensuous, embodied experiences of the 'more than human' world. In rethinking the legacy of the romantic philosopher Henry David Thoreau, the article argues for a shift of emphasis from wilderness to wildness in order to bring conservation home to more people. It suggests that we can learn from the ability of Australian Aborigines to listen to the land in order to 'sing up' the stories that are embedded in landscapes. Learning to read and create landscape stories provides creative ways of building more affective bonds between people and the land. Non-rational approaches to nature conservation can help to re-enchant conservation 'work'.
This article relates the circumstances in which, as part of the post‐war reconstruction effort, the newly‐conceded responsibilities of the state for protecting wildlife and the landscape were allocated respectively to a scientific body, the Nature Conservancy, and a planning body, the National Parks Commission. As well as pressing for effective powers to protect the countryside from damaging forms of development, more positive ways were sought for managing wildlife, landscape and the recreational resource. The evolving relationship with agriculture, the most important form of rural land‐use, is outlined. An account is given of how the three basic assumptions of the post‐war nature‐conservation movement came to be challenged, namely by the separation of the executive and research responsibilities for wildlife conservation in 1973, the break‐up of the UK approach in 1990, and misgivings as to how far the state should be directly responsible for acquiring and managing the expanding series of National Nature Reserves.
This paper traces the history of attempts to introduce National Parks into Scotland. In so doing it identifies some of the alternatives that have been considered and adopted. Finally, the paper analyses the failure of the movement to introduce National Parks into Scotland.
Much has been written on the initiatives leading up to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, but relatively little on the ways in which the National Parks Commission and Nature Conservancy subsequently established themselves amongst other user‐interests in the countryside. This paper disputes the general assumption that the Nature Conservancy operated in a largely apolitical climate, acquiring and managing nature reserves on essentially scientific criteria. Particular attention is given to the assumptions on which the statutory powers of the Nature Conservancy were granted, the changing political context within which the Nature Conservancy acquired its network of nature reserves, and the changing understanding of the management needs of nature reserves. Consideration is also given to the attempts made to give tangible effect to the concept of enhancement and enrichment in the distinctive landscapes of nature reserves. Insights from archival evidence help to explain the urgency with which ‘conservation research’ came to be promoted by the early 1960s, and place in clearer perspective the more overtly political influences exerted on nature conservation in later decades.
Seventy years ago the population of Southern Rhodesia was only about 500,000. The inhabitants occupied the land according to their tribal customs, and were mainly hunters and pastoralists. In those days the whole country abounded with wild life. Then western civilization came to the country, bringing with it advanced agricultural techniques, medical science and the western system of law. Within thirty years vast changes and development took place. The indigenous population trebled: industries, particularly mining, sprang up all over the country and around these industries towns were built with the resultant network of road and rail communications. But, following the pattern of development seen in so many countries, Rhodesia's natural resources were being squandered and destroyed, in some cases through lack of knowledge, in others wantonly. Nevertheless, even in the 1920's a few people, supported by the Government, did make some provision for the conservation of wild life and in 1927 the first game reserve was established at Wankie. By the 1930's, however, it was obvious that other resources, particularly the soil, were being lost at an alarming rate. Again a few far-sighted people, led by Water Court Judge Mcllwaine, stirred up public opinion, the Governor appointing a commission of enquiry into the extent to which the natural resources were being squandered. The outcome of this enquiry was the establishment of the Natural Resources Board, constituted by Act of Parliament which, in essence, recognized the Board as the public trustee for the natural resources of the country. The Board has extremely wide powers and can give orders to the owners, occupiers or users of any land to adopt such measures as it may deem necessary for the conservation and protection of the resources. Whilst an appeal to the court against such orders is provided for, the Board relies upon persuasion rather than compulsion and depends upon the goodwill and common-sense of the people to ensure a future both for themselves and for those who are to follow.
In the early 1800s the once abundant North Atlantic right whale was believed to be extinct. But by mid-century the species had been ‘rediscovered’, and hunting was resumed until 1918, when the whales were again in trouble. In 1935 all right whales became fully protected by an international convention, and in the 1950s the North Atlantic population was once again ‘rediscovered’. Today, after nearly 50 years of protection and slow recovery, the author assesses the present status of the North Atlantic population. Surveys showed disappointing results until in 1980 a survey of the lower Bay of Fundy (prompted by the threat of an oil refinery being built there) revealed surprisingly high numbers. Another survey in 1981, in which the author also took part, has shown the Grand Manan Island region to be a summer and autumn assembly site for at least several dozen of these endangered whales, including a number of cows and calves. This may be a key area for the North Atlantic right whale's survival.
The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development was established in 1986 to oversee all wildlife conservation programmes in Saudi Arabia. The Arabian oryx Oryx leucoryx is one of the flagship species of the Saudi Arabian reintroduction policy. It has been captive-bred since 1986 at the National Wildlife Research Center near Taif. With the creation of a network of protected areas in the former distribution range of the species, attention has shifted to the release of captive-bred oryx into Mahazat as-Sayd and 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid reserves. Similar programmes carried out in other countries of the Arabian Peninsula underline the need for regional co-operation and pan-Arabic public awareness programmes, in addition to captive-breeding and reintroduction projects.
Very few reserves exist to protect the arid-lands fauna of West Africa, particularly in the sub-desert zone, and the large mammals, such as addax, scimitar-horned oryx and dama gazelle are disappearing. New reserves are planned but they could be too late. Many permanent waterholes have been dug, and the nomads (and their livestock) tend to stay near them, depriving the wild animals of their traditional dry-season haunts. Firearms have made hunting easier, and the slow-running desert animals cannot compete with motor vehicles – many die of heat exhaustion, calves are abandoned in the chase and unborn young aborted. Rational utilisation of wildlife could be of immense benefit to the people, but protection is the first priority. To achieve this FPS and PTES have launched an appeal for the scimitarhorned oryx.
From its earliest years, the Society's journal has carried reports on the tsetse problem in Africa. Between the 1920s and 1960s, attempts to eradicate the flies from many parts of the country resulted in the slaughter of 1.3 million game animals and extensive bush clearance, which permanently destroyed wildlife habitat. By the early 1970s, the use of insecticides had largely replaced these drastic techniques, but this, in its turn, with the environmental side-effects, caused much concern amongst wildlife conservationists. The authors review the history of tsetse control and discuss the new, safer methods that have been developed, as well as others still under trial. It is clear, however, that tsetse eradication will continue to be controversial. The development of safer and environmentally acceptable techniques does not solve a more fundamental problem—the wise use of Africa's land. Clearing the land of tsetse can open the path to its ruin by unsustainable pastoral encroachment. It is of interest that in April 1985, the EEC governments forced the EEC Commission to modify its forthcoming programme of tsetse fly eradication in four countries by insisting that environmentally harmful methods using DDT should not be employed. The Commission was also forced to include a three-year project on area development planning—land-use considerations were originally not included in its proposals.