Bibliography (page 6)

Wamalwa, Betty Nafuna. "Indigenous knowledge and ecological management." In Gaining ground: institutional innovations in land-use management in Kenya, edited by Amos Kiriro, and Juma, Calestous, 35-49. Nairobi: ACTS Press, 1991.

An excellent consideration of the importance of indigenous knowledge in effectively making conservation policies sustainable and empowering for local communities. The author points out that semi-arid and arid landscapes and peoples have historically been marginalized by the development policy, and have never "been developed to serve the areas on their own terms" (35), but as a source of human labor during the colonial period and as a dumping ground for human expansion during the postcolonial era. Wamalwa argues that the key to successful conservation strategies lies in the traditional knowledge of local peoples, and supports this by suggesting that: indigenous management was necessarily conservation-based to allow for survival; management was based on a local view of the world addressing the particular intricacies of single ecosystems; everyone was involved in agriculture, hunting, gathering, etc. to a certain extent, allowing for broad-based knowledge and understanding of the surrounding world; traditional knowledge and expertise were based on experimentation and accumulation of experience and thus were integrally tied to the local environmental elements; and resource utilization was approached with a "trinity of tools," including physical, intellectual, and spiritual tools. These tendencies made conservation less anthropocentric, mechanistic, specialized, and conquering of nature than modern techniques, and encouraged a sense of harmony, sensitivity, and close connections to the land and nature. The author suggests that a greater appreciation of these ideas and an embracing of the these characteristics will allow for more successful and valid forms of conservation in the future. Although Wamalwa suggests that the spiritual connection to nature - the significant difference between traditional and modern strategies - is not necessary for sustainability, it is unclear if a completely mechanistic view of nature can succeed in sustaining nature for its own sake (and as the primary motivation for preservation of "resources," as discussions of "sustainable capitalism" make clear). Still, the author suggests that adaptability and willingness to change have marked traditional strategies, and evidence ways in which new technologies could be successfully incorporated into indigenous models. Wamalwa uses the example of the Akamba people to reinforce these ideas, and to suggest that the Akamba quite purposely (pg. 44) used certain combinations of crops (pg. 46-47), shifting cultivation, and certain types of soils to live sustainably in particular areas as communities. (The author stresses that women were not allowed property rights, an issue that has become increasingly problematic for women as men move to work in the urban environment and women are prevented from making ownership decisions regarding clear signs of degradation they see around them.) The author concludes by acknowledging that Kenya - like many Third World countries - adopted (or was forced to adopt) foreign conservation strategies that considered indigenous methods ineffective and irrational: "this view has been part of a legacy that was brought with Western education which has profoundly affected policies for these areas" (48). Wamalwa urges that indigenous knowledge must be integrated into modern policies if the increasing populations are to be fed and provided for without degrading resources as they have been until now.

Western, David. "Conservation without parks: wildlife in the rural landscape." In Conservation for the twenty-first century, edited by David Western, and Pearl, Mary C., 158-165. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

The author provides a good summation of how conservation must be primarily a human affair, and given this acknowledgment, the traditional national park model will fail to adequately provide for the preservation of wildlife by itself, because most wildlife and most ecosystems lie outside of national park islands (as demonstrated in the East African example). In this light, it is necessary to consider the ways in which wildlife and people can coexist outside of parks by capitalizing on relationships that sustain wildlife and provide incentives (economic and otherwise) for people to promote preservation. According to Western, land pressures have historically been responsible for much less wildlife extinction than human attitudes and practices, although this will begin to change as human populations continue to skyrocket. In this light, though, there is the potential for management policies based on multiple use of land and wildlife, "allying" wildlife with humans (or making it useful to people in sustainable ways).

Western, David, and Wright, R. Michael. "The background to community-based conservation." In Natural connections: perspectives in community-based conservation, edited by David Western, and Wright, R. Michael, 1-12. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1994a.

A good background summary on some general trends in conservation throughout human history. The authors make a good point in recognizing that the romantic notion that Stone Age and Neolithic peoples coexisted in harmony with nature, is a misleading position; limited technology, low populations, and restricted markets prevented human cultures from exploiting resources significantly, although a certain holistic sense of the world did exist in many parts of the world (though not generally in Europe). Population expansion during the Neolithic - especially into unpopulated areas - was responsible for significant wildlife extinctions. The authors continue by presenting a good analysis of the emergence of modern conservation ideologies and understandings, beginning in the 1850s with humanitarian concerns that translated into the call for the ethical treatment of animals as well (in Europe and North America, and imposed in other countries by Western colonial powers). In the United States during the early to late twentieth century, two distinct positions of sustainable use and utilization of wildlife on the one hand (Gifford Pinchot), and radical preservation on the other (John Muir), defined many of the environmental struggles according to models of state ownership and protection. During the 1960s and 1970s, the weakness of both of these philosophies - especially in Third World contexts - became more and more obvious; local people were isolated from the state ownership and use of the resources. The appearance of many new factors (and the acknowledgment of them), such as population explosion, environmental degradation, consumerism, and pollution, the emergence of grass-roots developments and small-scale projects , and the increasing awareness and call for human and especially indigenous rights all worked to lay a foundation for community-based strategies in conservation thought (and less so in practice until recently). The increasing sensibility of the importance of biodiversity and local peoples allowed Western developed nations to recognize the interconnection of the two; the preservation of one globally required the protection of the other. At the same time, calls for animal rights and community rights have often been antagonistically considered, bringing into question who should control the land and resources globally (i.e. outsiders or the locals). The authors recognize that the real challenge of community-based conservation lies in combining biodiversity and local control / sustainable use of resources into a whole that succeeds in effectively incorporating both, as the majority of the world's resources and biological areas exist outside of parks in rural areas directly effected by local communities. Respect and involvement of rural peoples and a thorough consideration of the "rights, responsibilities, and capacities" of all peoples involved, will be integral to the process, and a rediscovery of traditional practices and management will be necessary to help recognize ways in which rural communities' "coexistence " with nature traditionally can work effectively within a modern context.

Western, David. "Ecosystem conservation and rural development: the case of Amboseli." In Natural connections: perspectives in community-based conservation, edited by David Western, and Wright, R. Michael, 15-52. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1994b.

A great, in-depth analysis of Amboseli National Park in Kenya, using 30 years of Western's personal experience to compliment his understandings of history, ecology, and power dynamics in the Amboseli ecosystem. Basically, Western charts the history of Amboseli from precolonial to postcolonial eras, suggesting that especially after the British colonization of East Africa, the conservation strategies instituted in the area have been exploratory. In particular, Western looks at the traditional coexistence of the Maasai pastoralists of the area with the environment, and the ways in which they have been continuously marginalized by sociopolitical forces and conservation schemes that have failed to include them in the conservation policies they are directly affected by. Western traces the history of British colonization of Kenya to demonstrate that the British drive for land alienated the Maasai in the Southern Reserve and forced them away from their traditional grazing areas after Amboseli shifted from a hunting preserve to an area of land protection. The control of the area by county councils was also worse than having the area protected as a park, as the land was not as well protected and the county officials still kept the Maasai from access to resources. Because of growing international conservation movements and the view that rural pastoralists and their cattle adversely effected the land, the Amboseli area was developed into a national park that completely kept the Maasai out of the interior. Western makes the important point that "after Independence, conservation remained the preserve of expatriates (mainly ex-colonial officers). Not surprisingly, then, the protection-against-people view of parks persisted...The largely mechanistic views of nature in vogue reinforced protectionist policies and hands-off management. The absence of human activity, itself an artifact of the establishment of parks, seldom was mentioned or considered" (19). Nevertheless, Amboseli has also been the focus of new attempts at conservation in East Africa, and has significantly influenced national and international reassessments "in bringing about recognition and acceptance of the need to direct conservation benefits to local communities" (44). Attempts at locally based conservation, multi-use buffer zones, and community-based benefits from wildlife protection have been attempted at a number of levels, and although none have proved completely successful, the Maasai have benefited in tangible ways that have given them confidence that wildlife conservation can work for them and not just against them (this is true in relation to community-run group ranches and profits from tourist ventures to a certain extent, etc.). However, Western makes an insightful point when he recognizes that the "traditionally benign relationship between the Maasai and wildlife" (48) that has allowed conservation strategies to succeed in the past will become less conceivable as more Maasai gain access to capital, resources, schooling, etc., dissolving the traditional cohesiveness of the people as a group that could be dealt with as a homogenous entity. As individual land ownership and privatization of resources increases, it will become increasingly important to communicate with the Maasai on equal terms rather than the traditionally paternalistic and dominating relationship that has existed between the pastoralists and the national government. Western argues that management of Amboseli will have to take place on a broader basis, ensuring that landowners continue to respect wildlife through ecologically sustainable activities, and suggests that the massive overpopulation of elephants, zebra, and wildebeest in the park could be one source of utilization for the people directly affected by their presence in Amboseli. Western comments that: "To believe that wildlife will be conserved for its own sake as long as Maasai traditions survive is unrealistic. The biggest challenge lies in continuing to find ways to accommodate both interests and in maintaining a large arena of physical overlap based on economic and noneconomic values that are meaningful to landowners" (49).

Wiertsema, Wiert. "Paths to sustainability." In The future of progress: reflections on environment and development, edited by Edward Goldsmith, Khor, Martin, Norberg-Hodge, Helena, Shiva, Vandana, & others, 172-175. Foxhole, Dartington: Green Books, 1995.

A short work which touches on the idea of "development" as a fundamentally Northern notion that is in opposition to true environmental sustainability and human social justice. According to the author, "development" for the few has historically "only been possible at the expense of many others," partly because the idea emerged out of European ideologies that have proved domineering and disempowering for Southern peoples and environments. The author also argues that "sustainable development" is ultimately a myth that requires little real change in Northern power structures and will only serve to sustain Northern domination at the expense of international social and environmental health. Although the author offers no real answers, Wiertsema suggests that true change can only come about when local communities are empowered; ultimately, solutions must come from "the bottom up" if systems sustaining domination and oppression are to be overcome.

Wright, R. Michael. "Conservation and development." In Voices from Africa: local perspectives on conservation, edited by Dale Lewis, and Carter, Nick, 183-192. Washington, D.C.: World Wildlife Fund, 1993.

A well thought-out analysis of donor aid in Africa related to conservation and development strategies. The author recognizes that donors from wealthy Northern countries have often been less than benevolent and desirable for African peoples, especially on a local or rural level, because of the history of domination and inequality in communication and relations between the two groups. Although donor aid, especially in the form of NGOs, has often been well-intentioned, it has been riddled with failures for a number of reasons: donors have tended to communicate with national governmental forces rather than local constituencies; "traditional village-based, subsistence oriented development is neither encouraged nor supported" (184); donor aid usually emerges in terms of finite projects where the process of "native" capability and sustainability of the projects is not considered. The author recognizes that effective donor aid must be carried out on as equitable a basis as possible, requiring that issues of poverty and powerlessness be considered centrally in an analysis of conservation and development. The scope of projects has also been historically problematic: large projects have generally failed to respond to local needs while small-scale, NGO attempts fail to address larger social issues and structures. Wright calls for donors to establish new relationships with rural African people and communities that do not so intensely create dependency relationships. This requires that donors support the development of trained leaders from Africa rather than from Northern countries, allow for the development of accountability and managerial capacities of the local people themselves, and respect the capacity for self-reliance in African communities. Only by sincerely respecting the contributions that African communities have to offer, and by designing donor aid so that the "project" is not an end in itself but part of a process towards sustainable and self-reliant community development, can donor aid become less repressive and more empowering for African peoples.

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