Toward eco-justice for all - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 145

What if crime prevention causes problems?
There are contradictions arising from the introduction of situational
crime prevention measures in relation to animal protection. For
example, wildlife tourism can provide an alternative to and revenue
for anti-poaching strategies (Wellsmith, 2010). However, infrastructure
such as roads can lead to habitat destruction and loss of biodiversity.
The construction of wildlife parks can distort local species distributions,
involve relocating animals across vast distances, and present a narrow
view of which animals ought to be protected and how. Moreover, the
establishment of wildlife tourist parks may exclude traditional users of
local areas, and result in the criminalisation of what were traditional
means of subsistence (Duffy, 2010, see also Chapter Three).
An eco-justice perspective posits these kinds of questions as important
and complex. There is no simple answer to them. Whose interests and
whose rights ought to be protected, and under what conditions? - are
implicated in these debates.
Action based upon perceived interests (including the interests of
the nonhuman) generally reflects particular social circumstances. In
concrete terms, for example, much of the EJ movement begins with an
anthropocentric view insofar as the main concern is with the quality
of environments for humans. The poor living conditions experienced
by those living in poverty and minorities are themselves a key source
of contention, not necessarily 'the environment' as such. The political
agenda is set by the unequal environmental quality that is evident in
specific locales and by local people's responses to this. Struggle is directly
related to survival and immediate self-interest.
By contrast, those who are economically better off have the choice
to be concerned with issues of general ecological equity, since their
immediate living circumstances are generally not disagreeable or
threatening to their health. The economically well-off are in a position
to use environmental justice issues (that is, social inequality relating to
who lives next to polluting factories) strategically in order to promote
ecocentric over anthropocentric concerns (that is, acknowledging
the wellbeing of environments as well as human interests, demands
implementation of anti-pollution measures across the board). Not
surprisingly, the better off are also more likely to speak about ecological,
rather than environmental, justice.