Indigenous peoples and their cultures

Indigenous People (annotated Bibliography)

Conservations of wildlife in Africa

Barrett, C.B. (1995). Are Integrated Conservation-Development Projects (ICDP's) Sustainable on the conservation of Large Mammals in Sub-Saharan Africa? World Development 23(7): 1073-1084.

Barrett (1995) investigated the link that exists between rural development and species conservation and established that rural development and species conservation has conceptual flaws that limit its appropriateness and sustainability when it is used to protect large African mammals. This came out in the wake of ICDPs broader appeal that it could benefit the local community.

Brockington, D. & Igoe, J. (2006). Eviction for Conservation: A Global Overview. Conservation and Society 4(3): 424-470.

Relationships between conservationists and the indigenous communities have been turbulent from time immemorial (Brockington & Igoe, 2006). This has partly been prompted by eviction of these people from protected areas. The authorities prosecuting eviction have used the moral high ground that conservation currently enjoys. They have argued that such efforts save species from extinction as well as saving the planet. Displacements have been characterized by forced removal of people and economic displacement where people are excluded from particular areas where their livelihoods are dependent on.

Garland, E. (2008). The Elephant in the Room: Confronting the Colonial Character of Wildlife Conservation in Africa. African Studies Review 51(3): 51-74.

Garland (2008) in an effort to interrogate the Colonial government's conservation efforts in Africa pointed out the existing structural inequalities that characterized African's symbolic and political economies in wildlife conservation. The colonialist wildlife conservation policies were capitalist and Africans therefore benefited little from them despite the fact that these conservancy occupied areas where the indigenous gainfully lived from.

Hackle, J.D. (2001). Community Conservation and the Future of Africa's Wildlife. Conservation Biology 13(4): 726-734.

Hackle (2001) while trying to investigate what lies ahead of Africa's wildlife with regard to community conservation underscores the integral part the local community plays in resource planning and management in community-based conservation. He is adamant that the local community must gain economically from wildlife utilization. Hackle viewed community-based conservation (CBC) as a cure exclusionary protectionist policy that excluded the local communities from conservation efforts despite the conflicts that have been witnessed in Madagascar, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. The CBC is set to succeed because of its inclusive policy (Hackle, 2001).

Roe, D. & Elliot, J. (2006). Pro-poor Conservation: The Elusive win-win for Conservation and Poverty Reduction. Policy Matters 14: 53-63.

Roe & Elliot (2006) underscored the role biodiversity plays in people's livelihoods despite the fact that development agencies have downplayed its input in poverty reduction. Community-based wildlife management, pro-poor wildlife tourism, sustainable bush meat management, and pro-poor conservation have played integral role in bettering peoples lives if DfID's involvement in Namibia and Tanzania is anything to go by. In Central Africa the local community is allowed to manage their own forests and wildlife resources with a view to using the resources sustainably.

Scheyvens, R. (1999). Ecotourism and the Empowerment of Local Communities. Tourism Management 20: 245-249.

Scheyvens (1999) reiterated that community based approach to ecotourism should recognize the need to promote the quality of life of people and the conservation of resources. Scheyvens is adamant that local people, especially the Africans, should be compensated for the loss of access to resources they suffer when wildlife parks are created. Scheyvens cited Narok County Council that manages Maasai Mara Park as the perfect case. The county council puts money accrued from the park into trust fund that is used to fund schools, cattle dips, and health services. The park therefore benefits the entire Maa community. In as much as ecotourism may be thought of as beneficial to indigenous communities, Scheyvens (1999) pointed out that it is difficult to find successful cases in this practice. This is exemplified in South African ecotourism operators who involve local communities only as pubic relations tools. They are not committed to supporting the rights of indigenous people with regard to benefiting from their traditional lands and wildlife.

Spinage, C. (2003). Social Change and Conservation Misrepresentation in Africa. Ecology and Organizational Biology 32(4):265-276

Spinage (2003) while trying to investigate misrepresentations that have been fronted about Africa's wildlife conservation efforts on social change brought into perspective the neo-populists thinkers' discontent with former colonial authority's African game legislations. He averred that local people ought to be allowed to exploit protected areas in accordance with their traditions and beliefs. He points out at a number of injustices inflicted by the colonial authorities on the indigenous people bordering wildlife conservancy notably replacing traditional conservation practice with left-wing colonial dogmas.

West, P., Igoe, J. & Brockington, D. (2006). Parks and Peoples: The Social Impact of Protected Areas. Annual Review of Anthropology 35: 251-277.

Environmental conservation efforts have social, economic, and political effects on the lives of the indigenous communities (West, Igoe & Brockington, 2006). As the environmental conservation projects grow the local communities living in such areas get displaced. West, Igoe, & Brockington (2006) therefore underscored the need for striking a balance between conservation efforts and the society around to avert instances of violence, conflict, power relations, and governmentality.