Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
In many cases, conservationists have been pitted against traditional
users of forests and lands. There appears to be a different 'moral ecology'
(Jacoby, 2001) between the two: one based upon customary practices
and the experience of living in and with nature; the other on technical
scientific knowledge (the field of ecology) and/or romanticised notions
of 'nature' which set it apart from humans. The social construction of
nature varies considerably depending upon particular social interests,
political power and personal experiences (Macnaghten and Urry, 1998).
Historically, in places such as the United States, there were synergies
between 'conservationists' and industrialist and developers insofar as
the former provided a predictable framework for natural resource
extraction, especially relative to the ad hoc practices of traditional users.
Under the conservationist conceptual and interventionist umbrella,
hunting and fishing and natural resource use was to be strictly regulated
according to particular definitions of what is good and bad in relation
to the human-nature nexus. The seeds of this conflict (between
conservationist and traditional users) were sowed during the time of the
transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe (with the advent of
bourgeois notions of private property, the commodification of nature,
and the rise of industrialism). It was in the context of this transition
from one mode of production to another that conservationism as
a movement and a model spread from Europe to the US, Australia,
Russia, Japan and China.
The re-conceptualisation of land and land use was not without its
conflicts. This was especially so since overarching transitions had a direct
impact on the present-day activities of those who lived and worked in
the areas earmarked by urban dwellers for conservation.
For many rural communities, the most notable feature
of conservation was the transformation of previously
acceptable practices into illegal acts: hunting or fishing
redefined as poaching, foraging as trespassing, the setting
of fires as arson, and the cutting of trees as timber theft. In
many cases, country people reacted to this criminalization of
their customary activities with hostility. Indeed, in numerous
regions affected by conservation, there arose a phenomenon
that might best be termed 'environmental banditry,' in which
violations of environmental regulations were tolerated, and
sometimes even supported, by members of the local rural
society. (Jacoby, 2001: 2)
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