Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Indigenous and Extraction Reserves
Indigenous reserves recognize historical land tenure rights of local indige-
nous people. For example, many agrarian societies have transformed land
bases (e.g., terracing mountain slopes) in order to adapt their farming to the
vagaries of the landscape within which they work and live. Such societies
have a long history on the land base.An indigenous reserve strategy recog-
nizes and respects this history and thus protects a way of life as well as the
species diversity that is part of that landscape.
Extraction reserves go a step further by supporting enterprises that are
sustained by ecosystem services unique to a particular region in which there
is also a need to protect biological diversity. For example, Brazilian tropical
rainforest ecosystems contain tree species that produce rubbery latex and
others that produce the famous Brazil nuts.These resources support impor-
tant subsistence economies and can lead to sustainable economic develop-
ment. In creating extraction reserves, the Brazilian government forges an
agreement with local communities to provide for the sustainable use of the
forest. At the same time, local communities must guarantee that they will
protect the natural integrity of the forest ecosystem. In return the commu-
nities would have control over the products from the forest. In other words,
control over conservation is ceded by national governments to local com-
munities.
There is divided opinion about the viability of extraction reserves. Some
argue that national control over conservation is more stable in the long term
than local control because humans, being selfish, will overexploit resources
to their own economic gain (Ter-
borgh 2000). It is believed that local
stewardship will only work when
population densities are low. When
resources become stretched by higher
densities, humans will extirpate bio-
diversity for their own gain, or trig-
ger events that lead to collapse of
biodiversity. It is also argued that as
the standard of living rises because of economic development, local com-
munities will look toward further exploitation of resources to fuel their eco-
nomic growth, especially when wealth generation enables them to replace
aboriginal subsistence technology with modern technology (Terborgh
2000).
In creating extraction reserves, the
Brazilian government forges an
agreement with local communities
to provide for the sustainable use
of the forest.
