Bibliography (page 2)
Hales, David. "Changing concepts of national parks." In Conservation for the twenty-first century, edited by David Western, and Pearl, Mary C., 139-144. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
An excellent look at some of the strengths and weaknesses of national parks, especially in relation to their historical roots in America; the author recognizes several invaluable reasons for the creation of national parks: parks were generally created for scenic beauty, not the preservation of biodiversity; parks were created for the enjoyment of people, but not for their basic survival, because it was taken for granted that parks had little or no inherent economic value; parks were "set aside" and isolated from human habitation and use; and based on the size and complexity of local agendas in America, parks were controlled and managed by the highest national authorities, and not at the local level. These historical bases of national parks were important in shaping their formation in developing countries where these ideas did not necessarily apply at all. The author also considers recent developments in multiple-use systems for national parks, and the ways in which these are often failures because it puts the emphasis on human development first and on wildlife second.
Hanneburg, Peter. "Cradle of man - and ecotourism." Enviro 17 (1994): 28-30.
A fairly simple piece that nonetheless succeeds in describing some of the basic issues at work in nature tourism in Kenya. The author recognizes that the Masai Mara and Amboseli National Park attract 200,000 and 250,000 tourists respectively each year and help contribute significantly to the $500 million or 10 per cent of the country's GNP made possible by the national parks and reserves set aside for nature conservation purposes in Kenya. The author cites a discussion he had with Richard Leakey, who explained that channeling the funds from ecotourism into the local communities most effected by their set-up is important, if environmental protection and conservation is to benefit them. Without this incentive to preserve wildlife and without local development, Leakey argues, long-term sustainable conservation will not be possible (although he only suggests channeling 25% of tourist revenues to the communities rather than encouraging local communities to implement their own strategies; he encourages dependency over empowerment). The most interesting point that the author makes is in relation to the environmental damage that massive concentrations of tourists force upon the popular parks and reserves. Especially in Amboseli, off-road vehicle tracks and intense disturbance of wildlife migrations and behavior are cited as potentially destructive aspects of ecotourism that may degrade just the wildlife resources that the tourists are coming to East Africa to see. In effect, it is unclear how sustainable ecotourism can be in Kenya in the long-term, on a number of levels, particularly referring to tourist damages (and in relation to local communities' lack of involvement in wealth distribution and utilization) in this article.
Hecox, Eric B. "A comparative analysis of protection versus utilization, Kenya and Zimbabwe." (1996).
An excellent consideration of conservation strategies pursued in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and the ways in which the colonial and postcolonial policies in each country produced different rates of success in the nations. The author suggests that conservation in both of these regions must be built on the premise of sustainable wildlife management that takes into account local customs, beliefs, and involvement. According to Hecox, utilization of wildlife seems to work much more effectively than protection, as demonstrated in Zimbabwe and Kenya. Although the colonial histories in both nations proceeded similarly (massive land alienation by the colonial governments and lack of involvement of local people in policy decisions), Kenya continued this protection scheme after independence while Zimbabwe shifted its focus to involve local people directly in the process of utilization of wildlife. As a result, Zimbabwe was able to alleviate some of the local peoples' hatred of conservation policies (which they linked with colonization schemes) by making it work for them. Although Kenya's national protection scheme seemed to prevent massive poaching in the short-term, it has failed to provide opportunities for the people in the long-term, and thus poaching and other destructive activities are on the increase. Hecox recognizes that utilization must be sustainable and must respond to the specific cultural nuances in a given area, but that it has the potential to be the most effective conservation strategy by making wildlife preservation something that works for the people instead of against them.
Hill, Kevin A. "Zimbabwe's wildlife conservation regime: rural farmers and the state." Human Ecology 19, no. 1 (1991): 19-34.
Discusses conservation in Zimbabwe based on success and failure with wildlife protection: based on involvement and planning at the grassroots level for "success," and white colonial enforcements and conservation interests, combined with lack of economic incentives, for the "failures."
Hitchcock, Robert K. "Centralization, resource depletion, and coercive conservation among the Tyua of the northeastern Kalahari." Human Ecology 23, no. 2 (1995): 169-198.
Consideration of how conservation can prove harmful to indigenous peoples; based on colonial policies, wildlife protection has ignored the needs and values of indigenous peoples, applying a "hands-off" attitude to animals that displaces "natives" and clears preferred land for the "elite." Hitchcock considers this through the example of the Tyua Bushmen in Zimbabwe and Botswana.
Hyndman, David. "Conservation through self-determination: promoting the interdependence of cultural and biological diversity." Human Organization 53, no. 3 (1994): 296-302.
Comments on several perspectives & positions on biological diversity in relation to cultural diversity; claims that traditional perspectives of "classic" conservation and isolation are untenable and based on a misunderstanding of how indigenous people relate to their environment; calls for "green capitalist" sensitivity that values indigenous beliefs and provides for community-based developments and local encouragements financed by the First World.
Jarrett, Alfred Abioseh. The under-development of Africa: colonialism, neo-colonialism, and socialism. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc., 1996.
In the spirit of Walter Rodney's How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Jarrett presents a more recent account of the oppressive and dominating effects of colonization and imperialism in Africa, including the failure of socialism to provide the socioeconomic miracle that was hoped for in many countries. Like Rodney, Jarrett offers a commentary on African domination and degradation that is unmerciful and angry; the author considers the history of Africa throughout the text to suggest (a bit too idealistically) that the precolonial period was characterized by working and sustainable civilizations that were devastated by French and British colonization especially and continue to be cursed by the echoes of neo-colonial administration, greed, and elitism. Jarrett argues that the exploitation of Africa's "wealth and resources" has been responsible for Africa's lack of development and "backwardness" since the colonial period, and continues to supply Europe and America with resources and labor at the expense of African growth. (Interestingly, he does not identify the lack of control that Africa experienced in the Indian Ocean trade in relation to Indian and Arab encounters, except to point out that the slavery begun with that trade has continued to manifest itself literally and symbolically today.) Jarrett begins by discussing the colonial period in Africa, and states that it was destructive in a number of ways for Africa, robbing the continent of its resources and its precolonial strategies of sustainability, spirituality, and solidarity in African communities. Jarrett stresses that "the colonialistic practice of capitalism in Africa failed to develop social relations and liberate the forces of production as it did in Western industrial nations because it was never intended to do so. Their primary intentions were to develop their own economy by the institutionalizing, controlling, and exploiting Africa" (11). European colonization in Africa was (and is) based on a process of extraction that has made possible the strength of the North at the expense of Southern cultural richness, environmental diversity, and autonomy. In speaking of technological transfer, Jarrett recognizes that "the colonial doctrine was geared to fulfilling the needs of the colonial masters and to strengthening the growth and development of their own countries" (24), by creating a system of technological transfer that favored Northern economic expansion at the expense of Southern growth and health. This was particularly well evidenced in the area of agriculture; colonial administration stressed the importance of monoculture, specialization in cash crops, and "producing crops for international trade, instead of local consumption" (29), which set up a system of dependency in Africa that favored Northern economies at the expense of African sustainability, self-sufficiency, and environmental health; the cash crops supplied resources for Europe and America, and not for Africa, destroyed the fertility of the land, and as a result "African nations became a source of agricultural products for the West" (30). Jarrett adds that the imposition of colonial values - such as capitalist competition, gender divisions, and the conception of "civilization" in urban areas - intensified the separation of Africans from their sociocultural identities and forced ideologies on the African context that were environmentally and socially destructive. The author goes on to concentrate on the neo-colonial period, which has mirrored the colonial period only too well in preserving a relationship of dependency between South and North. Jarrett suggests that "neo-colonialist" refers to both the African elite whose placement as leaders in Africa politically and economically supports European and American policies of African exploitation, and to the "developed nations" that continue to exert control over Third World nations in Africa. Fundamentally, a type of corporate colonialism continues to be the basis of the socioeconomic relationship between the First World and Africa. Based on IMF and World Bank strategies, "the developed nations are manipulating the world economy to the detriment of Africa's economic progress" (88) to allow for First World economic expansion at the expense of Third World (and First World) social and environmental sustainability. This is clearly evidenced in the existence of "impressive skylines" in major African cities, which are costly and hide the more significant problems of "remote health care, poor housing, poor roads, a general lack of transportation and communication, and inadequate educational systems" (100) in the hinterland. According to the author, this reflects African "governments' emphasis on growth rather than on the more fundamental changes of development" (100), and the dependency of African nations in global relationships: "the neo-colonialist governments of Africa have developed a pattern of "growth without national development," because most of the development projects in Africa are not beneficial to the continent" (101), but are meant to preserve the exploitative and extractive policies forced upon Africa by developed nations during the colonial period and preserved during the modern era.
Joekes, Susan, Heyzer, Noeleen, Oniang'o, Ruth, and Salles, Vania. "Gender, environment and population." In Development and environment: sustaining people and nature, edited by Dharam Ghai, 137-165. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994.
A good analysis of gender dynamics in relation to population pressures and environmental change in developing nations, with a particular focus on Malaysia, Kenya (in the Embu region of Mt. Kenya), and Mexico. The piece begins by critiquing the views of ecofeminism (women's affinity to nature) and women and the environment, which are both limited by their over-emphasis on women's roles and connections with nature outside of male responsibilities and socioeconomic tendencies in general. The authors argue that a "developmentalist" approach that examines gender aspects of environmental change case by case is necessary to make full sense of various situations of gender dynamics and social adaptations to environmental circumstances. The authors then examine population theories in developing countries, concluding that the Malthusian perspective (i.e. increased population is linked to increased degradation) and the Boserupian theory (of increased population contributing positively to agricultural growth and productivity) are both inadequate to explain population dynamics universally. Ultimately, a site specific relationship must be acknowledged that may include both or neither models. Based on Oniang'o's work, the regional analysis of Embu in Kenya examines the main forms of environmental problems in the area, caused by prolonged periods of drought and deforestation (based on local and national charcoal / fuelwood needs), the latter of which has been the main form of soil degradation in the area. The authors link this degradation to the gender dynamics in the region, which primarily take the form of an intensely stratified system in which women are regularly denied property rights and ownership of environmental resources. This has a number of consequences in relation to deforestation: women have little incentive to take part in long-term conservation of the land; women are not allowed to plant a diversity of plant species, especially for their own benefit of fuelwood, and are thus prevented from taking effective steps towards soil conservation by social constraints. Although women in general are "particularly exposed to the negative consequences of environmental factors in this district, and may in general have a better perception of the welfare costs of environmental change to themselves and their families, property and effective land use rights limit women's ability to take corrective action" (160), especially in the areas where soil conservation and reforestation are most needed.
Juma, Calestous. "Managing biological diversity in Kenya." In Gaining ground: institutional innovations in land-use management in Kenya, edited by Amos Kiriro, and Juma,Calestous, 125-154. Nairobi: ACTS Press, 1991.
An analysis of conservation polices and roles related to genetic resources and biodiversity in Kenya. Particularly Juma's consideration of "biodiversity in history," related to colonial practices and policies, offers an invaluable description of British strategies and ways in which these affect Kenyan economic policies presently. During the colonial period, the British concentrated many of their conservation efforts on "the introduction of new genetic material into Kenya to establish the colonial agricultural economy" (126). This had important implications in a number of sectors, including forestation, cereal production, the growth of cash crops, and the use of commercial versus indigenous livestock. As a result of these purposive attempts by the British, white settlers had the advantage of production knowledge to ensure that they would control the industries, and particular areas - the 'White Highlands" - were set aside for whites to control these industries at the expense of valuable native resources. The consequence of using imported genetic materials - besides British control in the colonial period - was that less destructive and degrading, indigenous resources were invalidated and ignored, disempowering native communities. In addition, high GNP earners in the postcolonial period continue to be resources that are not native to the country but must be imported, continuing a system of national dependency that reinforces the global domination of Kenya by outside forces, and adds to environmental degradation of the country (128-129).
Kanogo, Tabitha. "Women and environment in history." In Groundwork: African women as environmental managers, edited by Shanyisa A. Khasiani, 7-17. Nairobi: ACTS Press, 1992.
A good recognition of the ways in which rural women in Kenya, as the key agricultural laborers, have historically contended with environmental management and degradation. The author identifies mainly precolonial and colonial examples to demonstrate that women must be an integral element in the development of effective conservation strategies in Africa. Because women are so deeply involved in agricultural and food production for rural communities, they were forced to develop precolonial strategies that allowed for the survival of their families. Especially because of the semi-arid and arid landscapes dominating Kenya, women developed sustainable strategies, based on limited resources and population density, that allowed for the healthy "coexistence" of agriculturalists and pastoralists with the environment. The precolonial period was thus characterized by techniques such as fallow shifting cultivation and "waste" lands (as the British colonial government dubbed them) set aside for resources such as fuelwood collection, grazing, etc. The colonial period was characterized by a massive reorganization of traditional land tenure and agricultural systems and a massive redistribution of land for the benefit of white settlers that had devastating effects on the majority of Kenyan rural communities. The disruption of a collective land-tenure system and of fallow shifting cultivation (or of transhumance for pastoralist cattle grazing) forced women to deal with severely decreased land supply, use of fast-growing or cash crops for money that were destructive to the soil, and environmental degradation on an unprecendented scale. The sexism of British colonialism also created an atmosphere of patriarchy that left women out of land use deliberation, even though they were in the best position to discuss the importance of land tenure and management from their individual sociocultural roles in most African societies. Rapid individualization and the colonial refusal to deal with the exploitative problem of land shortage for the Kenyan majority were important factors in shaping women's refusal to complete colonial project attempts aimed at reforestation and terracing: "In an age that was characterized by individual production and capital accumulation, communal soil conservation work was very unpopular" (16). Kanogo concludes by stressing that women must be involved in conservation strategies if they are to succeed in involving people at a community-based level that works for the local people, as women have been involved in effective land management for centuries and have everything to gain or lose from conservation policy implementation.
Go to Bibliography, page 3...
(Return to Table of Contents)
Send comments to: emmons@lclark.edu