S02 - 13th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology

13th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology
- S02 –
Conservation and the sense of belonging in nature: a reflection on the proper
place of humans in nature
Co-Chairs:
Miguel Alexiades
[email protected]
Sarah Laird
[email protected]
Rationale
Conservation interventions, particularly those conceived and implemented around protected areas, are
often based on implicit, often unexamined, yet powerful assumptions regarding such fundamental issues
as the proper place of humans in nature or the relationship (read disjuncture) between tradition and
modernity. Because conservation has become a distinct arena for economic and social development in
many regions undergoing rapid change, and because its discourse is hegemonic in terms of how it
naturalises particular kinds of environmental identities, ideologies and relationships, its effects are
equally profound.
This panel seeks to examine the effects of conservation interventions upon a core of human experience;
the sense of belonging and the social and emotional attachment to place. We would like to bring
together a number of specialists from different backgrounds and with experience in different settings to
reflect upon the effect of conservation on local people's understanding of their proper place in nature,
including their emotional attachment, their understanding of self through nature or the particular kinds
of economic or social activities through which their place in nature is defined and renewed.
We are particularly interested in a contradiction that is profoundly embedded in the personal experience
of many disaffected urban conservationists and which reflects one of the key consequences of the
effects of modernity: the profound sense of nostalgia and the search for belonging created through the
historical processes of uprooting and displacements, hallmarks of modernity. We are intrigued by how
the nostalgia for belonging and the historical experience of uprootedness creates a framework and
ideology for uprooting and displacing others, often in the guise of its opposite.
Because we understand 'belonging' to reflect a matrix of interconnected symbolic, affective, social,
economic and ecological relations, we welcome papers that might focus on any of these dimensions or a
combination of them.
- Papers might examine how some kinds of 'belonging' or ways of being in place are encouraged or
discouraged, (de)legitimised or transformed.
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- We encourage papers to examine how particular views of 'culture', 'nature', 'biocultural diversity' or
'sustainable development' either privilege or marginalize different forms of being in place and nature
- We are particularly interested in the effect of market-based approaches, as these hinges on creating
very specific notions of value to place and to the place of humans in nature.
- We welcome both 'ethnographies of conservation' focusing on the ideologies and practices of
conservation approaches and specific interventions, as well as case studies focusing on the responses of
different local collectivities to such approaches.
- We are attentive to the fact that local collectivities affected or involved in conservation initiatives are
complex, heterogeneous and fluid entities, and we welcome papers that focus on the internal
contradictions and conflicts that emerge following the multiple possibilities that exist in terms of
belonging and being in nature.
- It is no coincidence that conservation efforts are often spearheaded by 'outsiders' and resisted by
'insiders'; the assumptions behind many conservation efforts and the resulting conflicts often reveal the
contradictory aspects and effects, in terms of belonging and alienation, emplacement and displacement.
We thus welcome papers that focus not only on belonging and attachment, but on alienation,
detachment and displacement—both symbolic and material.
- Conservation interventions often create certain hierarchies in terms of who is considered more
representative and legitimately linked to place. We are interested in exploring the assumptions and
consequent dynamics and conflicts over representation and control that follow from particular claims to
legitimacy and belonging. Who and why is recognized as belonging to place and who and why is not even
considered.
Oral Presentations
14:00-14:20
Conflicting natures: the case of the Pyrenean brown bear
Des natures qui s'opposent : le cas de l'ours de Pyrénées
Emmanuel Martin
Abstract: In parts of the Pyrenees, the mountain is a hostile environment, which needs to be mastered.
Livestock farmers and the shepherds have the noble task of breeding and raising livestock in order to
feed their communities. Due to a number of factors, the brown bear disappeared from this landscape
and within one or two generations, people lost the habit and techniques to raise livestock amidst large
carnivores.
In the meantime, certain urban elites developed a philosophy of the environment based on the
conservation of the biodiversity and the idea of a pristine nature. For some, the mountain became the
emblem of a wild zone, which, to cover all its attributes, must be populated with wild animals, and
among them, the biggest and strongest European mammal: the brown bear. The brown bear, the former
"king" of animals, lost his status for the benefit of the lion at the end of the Middle Ages, to become an
animal of exhibition to be ridiculed, before becoming the object of hunting during the last two centuries.
In the middle of the 1990s, a re-introduction program of bears from Slovenia was initiated. Since then, a
struggle between those 'for' and 'against' the bear has ebbed and flowed, highlighting an opposition
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between the urban and the rural, between outside and inside interests and politics...but it is also a
confrontation between the 'nature' of some and that of others. The bear remains a ghost, about whom
we speak, but who we do not see. The comparison with the Slovenian or Italian situation allows a better
understanding of the specificities of the French case.
Résumé: Pour une partie des pyrénéens, la montagne est un environnement hostile qu’il faut maîtriser.
Certains d’entre eux, les éleveurs et les bergers ont la noble tâche d’y élever du bétail afin de nourrir la
communauté. Pour différentes raison, l’ours brun a disparu du paysage et en une à deux générations, les
hommes ont perdu l’habitude et les techniques pour élever des animaux au contact de prédateurs.
Parallèlement, certaines élites urbaines ont développé une philosophie de l’environnement basée sur la
préservation de la biodiversité et l’idée d’une nature vierge. Pour certains, la montagne est devenue
l’emblème d’une zone sauvage, qui, pour recouvrir tous ses attributs, doit être peuplée d’animaux
sauvages, et parmi eux, le plus gros mammifère européen, le plus fort : l’ours brun. L’ours brun, ancien
roi des animaux, a perdu son statut au profit du lion à la fin du Moyen Age, pour devenir un animal de
foire à ridiculiser, avant d’être la proie de la chasse au cours des deux derniers siècles. Dans le milieu des
années 1990, un programme de réintroduction de l‘ours en provenance de Slovénie a vu le jour. Depuis,
les oppositions entre « pro » et « anti » ours se sont manifestées avec plus ou moins de vigueur sous le
visage d’opposition entre urbains et ruraux, entre politique venue de l’extérieur et intérêts géopolitiques
locaux... Mais en réalité, il s’agit notamment d’un affrontement entre la « nature » des uns et la « nature »
des autres. L’ours reste un fantôme, dont on parle, mais qu’on ne voit pas. La comparaison avec la
situation slovène ou italienne permet de mieux comprendre les spécificités françaises.
14:20-14:40
Understanding institutional arrangements within French Nature Reserve system: looking for
Integrated Conservation and Development Achievements
Clara Therville, Raphaël Mathevet, Frédéric Bioret
Abstract: Interactions between protected areas and their surrounding territories raise on one hand the
issues of the place for human activities in areas dedicated to nature conservation, and on the other hand
the role played by biodiversity conservation within local communities development projects. If the past
protected areas (PAs) were often perceived as areas where local people were excluded by external
actors (State and NGOs), more and more modern PAs investigate spheres of economic and social
development and community-based management in a participatory approach. This contextual evolution
leads to reconsider the potential function of actual PAs and the ability of institutions to legitimize,
represent and support conservationist and other functional interests.
Here, we focus on the institutional evolution of French Nature Reserves. With more than 250 sites,
Nature Reserves represent one of the main regulatory tools of France's policy to nature protection. As
from the seventies, there have been major changes in their claimed purposes and institutional
arrangements. On an analysis of case studies, the institutional arrangements and how they try to
conciliate the multiple aims and expectations of the diverse actors involved in the Nature reserves
governance system are illustrated. Three issues are predominant in explaining the decision making
process and institutional characteristics: (i) professionalization of nature protection; (ii) engagement of
local authorities and (iii) flexibility of national law enforcement.
We describe how institutional changes have proposed responses to key social transitions in Nature
Reserves governance: from NGO activists and volunteers to professional managers, from environmental
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NGOs to local authorities, and from national to local level decision makers. We examine how institutional
changes can constitute a simple formalization of pre-existing rules in use, a tool to circumvent legal
framework constraints, or a profound redefinition of the place of stakeholders in the political chess set.
14:40-15:00
Land-use management and the idea of nature in Southern European Protected Areas
Jose Antonio Cortés Vásquez
Abstract: The establishment of a protected area not only transforms the way local resources are
managed but also how they are understood. In this process certain idea of nature, conceived as a realm
different from ‘society' or ‘civilization', becomes key to defining the role human beings should play in
their conservation. This paper explores how this phenomenon particularly appeals the strategic use of
certain environmental discourses at the Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park, South-eastern Spain, in order to
legitimate both the limitation of farming and fishing activities and the promotion of ecotourism. My aim
is to reflect around the political implications of these discourses, stressing the connections between a
dualist idea of nature, the ongoing re-territorialisation process that is affecting many areas in the socalled Peripheral Europe and the disempowerment of the local populations.
15:00-15:20
Belarmino and the butterflies: (dis)encounters between culture, research and development in
Colombian Vaupés
Belarmino y las mariposas: (des)encuentros entre cultura, investigación y desarrollo en el
Vaupés colombiano
Juan Manuel Rosso-Londoño, Walter Gabriel Estrada-Ramírez, Vera Lucia Imperatriz-Fonseca
Abstract: What are the unexpected dimensions which a conservation action can effect? Do the
transformations effected by these interventions only take place within the territories, relations and ideas
of local actors? What happens to the external actors? What possibilities for transformation are created
through intercultural dialogue?
An encounter in the forest and two stories which converge and diverge from both shores of the same
river. They meet, they talk, re-talk and they change each other. Walter is indigenous and a student. He
doesn't live within the forest near his elders, but he carries them inside, even though he also wants to
"progress". Juan Manuel is a "white person" and nearly a PhD. He lives in the city and pretends to teach
about competitive management of biodiversity. What is to be learned from this encounter?
The presentation -a two-voice storytelling- will try to share some of the questions, thoughts,
contradictions and transformations that emerge from the decision of the actors involved in conservation
interventions to have disposition for intercultural dialogue. This demands they confront their own
worldviews and to put in other hands their trust and friendship, for a re-signification of their daily work
and their being at the world.
Resumen: ¿Cuáles son las dimensiones imprevistas que una intervención de conservación puede llegar a
impactar? ¿Las transformaciones producidas por estas intervenciones se dan sólo en los territorios,
relaciones e ideas de los actores locales? ¿Qué sucede con los actores externos? ¿Cuáles posibilidades de
transformación se abren a través del diálogo intercultural?
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Un encuentro en la selva y dos historias que convergen y divergen, desde dos orillas del mismo río. Se
encuentran, se cuentan, se recuentan y se cambian. Walter es indígena y estudiante. No habita selva
adentro junto a sus mayores, pero los lleva consigo, aunque también quiere progresar. Juan Manuel es
"blanco" y próximamente, doctor. Habita en la ciudad y pretende enseñar sobre el manejo competitivo
de la biodiversidad. ¿Qué habrá por aprender a partir de este encuentro?
La ponencia -narración a dos voces- pretende compartir las preguntas, reflexiones, contradicciones y
transformaciones que surgen cuando los actores que intervienen y aquellos "objeto de la intervención"
deciden disponerse al diálogo intercultural, lo cual les exige confrontar sus formas de ver el mundo y
poner en otras manos su confianza y amistad, para resignificar su quehacer y su estar en el mundo.
Coffee break
16:00-16:20
Why is wild-life more important than people? Conservation strategies, perceptions and
contradictions in two protected areas from Trás-os-Montes, Portugal
Pourquoi la vie sauvage est-elle plus importante que les gens ? Stratégies de conservation,
perceptions et contradictions et la gestion des aires protégées de Tras-os-Montes, Portugal
¿Por qué la vida silvestre es más importante que la gente? Estrategias de conservación,
percepciones y contradicciones en dos áreas protegidas de Trás-os-Montes, Portugal
Ana Maria Carvalho, Amélia Frazão-Moreira
Abstract: Portuguese authorities for nature conservation have been engaged in comprehensive resource
networks and effective legislation and regulations for protected areas putting together different efforts
to sustain biodiversity and to enlist the full range of partners. It appears that the involvement and
participation of local communities was the essential basis on which protected areas would build a system
of management which has integrity, security and success, particularly those including human
settlements. Nevertheless, conservation measures were mostly designed by outsiders who were
culturally detached and parks boundaries were mainly based on environmental criteria.
Two important natural protected areas, located in the most north-eastern part of Portugal (Trás-osMontes), have a great diversity of natural and semi-natural habitats and humanized landscapes which are
repositories of nature and cultural heritage. The territories of the Natural Park of Montesinho and the
Natural Park of Douro International are the result of many geographical and historical factors and
represent harmonious integration of human activity with nature, allowing ecological diversity to be
maintained and valued.
Based on key-informants' opinions we explore their personal experience with the parks authorities and
their ideas about the management of these protected areas. Key-informants main argument is that
national conservation networks and strategies did not take into account regional identity, people
background and local believes and habits. Moreover, it is perceived that most of the initiatives have
never recognized the vital role of human activity in such areas maintenance and the contribution of local
knowledge (LK) to the current environment. Many occurrences decreased the intrinsic value of regional
landscapes which were considered part of the cultural heritage and had embedded intangible values
such as dwelling, spiritual and aesthetical values, local tradition, neighborly and inter-generational
relations. Local ideas of nature have determined distinguishable values of plants and animals and
outlined different orientations towards predatory actions.
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16:20-16:40
Effects of mediation on attachment to forest: the case of a community consultation in a new
protected area in Madagascar
Louise Lhoutellier
Abstract: In 2003, at the 5th World Parks Congress in Durban, the former President Marc Ravalomanana
of Madagascar declares his intention to triple the surface of Madagascar's protected areas, taking into
account local people in the delineation and management of protected areas. My research aims to study
the movement of objects and discourse between local NGOs and community based associations (Coba)
involved in the establishment of a management plan for a new forest protected area. The case study is a
village adjacent to the new protected area called Fandriana-Vondrozo located on the tropical rain forest
in the East of the island. The first results show that the issue of the relations between members of a local
NGO and community based associations leaders is to confirm power relationships at the expense of
narratives contents about ecological management. Coba leaders appear uninterested in forest
management, as they denounce the practices of NGOs and the failures of the forest administration in
spite of their responsibility for the forest. The members of the local NGO integrate these criticisms from
the association leaders. They use that to justify the need for a community-based conservation on a new
process to be adopted: taxation and regulation of the circulation of forest products in the communes
around the forest. The proposed presentation aims to understand the processes that lead to disinterest
for the forest and the adoption of a new tool to control the forest, leading paradoxically to implement
conservation policies at the local level.
16:40-17:00
Narratives of “Belonging in Nature” in Gorongosa (Mozambique)
Amélia Frazão-Moreira
Abstract: The words are from different people: hunters, journalists, writers, tourists, conservationists,
tour guides… The paper will present the expressions of the sense of belonging in a glorified and
commoditized nature, the Gorongosa National Park. The narratives present in newspapers, fictional
books, guestbook and internet sites will be crossed with the testimonies collected from interviews and
will allow us to understand colonial and postcolonial visions of nature. Although the Gorongosa National
Park is a paradigmatic scenario of dynamic reconfigurations created by conservationist processes, the
political and institutional issues, or the dynamics of interaction and conflict with local communities, will
not be the main focus of this contribution. The focus will be rather on personal experiences and
emotional attachments to place and what they tell us about the ideological processes in a historical
perspective. The descriptions of those who were, sometimes only briefly, in Gorongosa, are enthusiastic
and expressive manifestations of incorporation in nature. We will listen from the voices that claim the
legitimacy of being in place of colonial safari hunters until the nostalgic narratives of contemporary
visitors.
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17:00-17:20
The social and cultural economy of hunting in populations of South-East Cameroon:
implantations and mutations
L'économie sociale et culturelle des produits de chasse dans la vie des populations du sud-est
Cameroun : ancrage et mutations
Jules Sinang
Abstract: Les pouvoirs publics camerounais et la communauté internationale mènent, depuis plus d'une
décennie, une lutte acharnée contre la dégradation à outrance des ressources fauniques dont les forêts
du sud-est Cameroun sont l'objet de la part des individus sans scrupule communément appelés
braconniers. Les experts estiment qu'une une prise en compte des intérêts des populations locales, dont
la survie dépend de leur environnement, donnerait plus de chance de succès à cette entreprise. Pour ce
faire, une analyse plus ou moins exhaustive des rapports que ces populations entretiennent avec ladite
ressource, est un exercice d'une extrême importance. Des efforts sont à cet effet faits dans le domaine
de la conservation où il est de plus en plus admis que ces populations disposent des stratégies
endogènes de gestion judicieuse des ressources naturelles qui, à travers les âges, ont entre autres permis
au capital faunique de la région de pouvoir se maintenir. Une autre dimension de la question réside dans
la connaissance du rôle pluriel que les ressources fauniques jouent dans la vie de ses populations. Ce qui
permettrait de mieux appréhender les enjeux de la conservation qui, pour le moment, sont plus focalisés
sur les aspects écologiques et économiques.
L'objet de la présente communication , qui est issue de mes enquêtes de terrain, est de faire ressortir,
dans une approche diachronique, le lien multiforme que les populations de cette région entretiennent
avec la ressource faunique depuis les lustres et d' évaluer l'impact social et culturel que la disparition de
cette ressource engendre, au jour le jour, sur la vie de ses populations. Des données qui, à leur juste
valeur, remettent l'homme au centre de la conservation-gestion des ressources non seulement comme
acteur de ce processus mais aussi comme bénéficiaire immédiat et à long terme des effets de cette
conservation.
Posters (to be presented during the session poster on Wednesday 23 May)
The management of medicinal plants in the Nahuas de la Huasteca Potosina indigenous
communities, Mexico
La gestion des plantes médicinales chez les communautés autochtones Nahuas de la Huasteca
Potosina, Mexique
Nadja Palomo
Abstract: Parmi les utilisations des plantes, les plantes médicinales jouent un rôle central, tant pour la
médicine traditionnelle des communautés locales et autochtones, que pour la satisfaction d'une
demande commerciale souvent lointaine. Cependant, les populations de plantes médicinales sont
menacées par une surexploitation et une perte d'habitat accéléré. Il est donc crucial de trouver des
options permettant une gestion durable de cette ressource tout en contribuant à maintenir le bien-être
des communautés locales qui en dépendent. Ceci nécessite de comprendre les perceptions que les
populations ont des plantes médicinales et leurs façon de les exploiter. Notre recherche ethnobotanique
au sein des communautés autochtones Nahuas de la Huasteca Potosina au Mexique démontre les
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multiples interactions qui existent entre les communautés locales et les plantes médicinales ainsi que les
dynamiques utilisées dans la gestion des plantes médicinales.
Nos résultats révèlent une utilisation constante par les populations des plantes médicinales, tant pour
des raisons de santé ou économiques, avec un taux d'exploitation qui diffère d'une communauté à
l'autre. En outre, nos résultats démontrent un changement dans la perception de cette ressource, ce qui
se traduit par différents types de gestion et d'appropriation sociale des plantes médicinales pour
chacune de ces communautés. À cela s'ajoutent les facteurs de capitalisation et de globalisation qui
modifient le contexte dans lequel s'inscrivent la gestion et l'appropriation aux échelles locale, régionale
et nationale. Cette transformation ajoute de nouvelles préoccupations quant à la conception et gestion
des plantes médicinales.
Les résultats de cette étude servent de porte d'entrée pour systématiser une approche permettant
d'évaluer la complexité et l'hétérogénéité des pratiques locales de la gestion des plantes médicinales, et
ainsi faciliter la création de plans de gestion durable appropriés au contexte culturel local.
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the sea turtles incidental capture (Ilhéus, Bahia
state, Brazil)
Alexandre Schiavetti, Heitor Oliveira Braga
Biodiversity conservation is directly influenced by the use of human resources by traditional
communities. Therefore this study was to examine the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of
fishermen, and characterize the incidental capture of sea turtles in fishing colonies Z-19 and Z-34 at Ilhéus
(Brazil). Were conducted 30 semi-structured interviews, containing 83 questions that approached
questions of knowledge and attitudes about sea turtles. The sample of fishermen followed the
methodology of network information through the criterion of "native experts”. The age of respondents
ranged from 41 to 86 years, all male. The fishing time was 20 to 60 years. Of the respondents, 77% live
exclusively from fishing. The second gear fishermen who catch more turtle is the network. Only one
respondent said he never found a turtle while fishing. The whole coastline was cited as a possible site of
capture. In relation to the turtle nesting areas, all fishermen have seen confirmed spawning turtles on
the beaches. The size of the largest turtle sighted by the respondents ranged from 40-900 kg. Since the
depth where the turtles were captured ranged from 1 to 65 m. Through projective test was verified
knowledge in relation to the names of six species of turtles. The species was the most recognized
Chelonia mydas, popularly called by them "green turtle" and "araunã. 94% of interviewees were unable to
recognize the Natator depressus or “flatback” turtle, which can be explained by the absence of records in
the Brazilian coast. The turtle is used as a food resource for casual and craft. There was the presence of
food aversions or prohibitions, beliefs or medicinal uses of species of turtles in the region. The meat is
appreciated, but notes that some fishermen have dietary restrictions your child, woman and man
operated, pregnant women and woman of menstruation. The turtle was classified by some fishermen to
fish "remoso" or "carregado". The training of fishermen and community awareness are essential to
minimize the impacts to the populations observed in these animals. Management alternatives for the
network should be reviewed in order to […]
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