94
4
cated within biology, and more recently within specializations such as conservation
biology and natural resources management. Natural scientists, who work at universities and research institutes, have also been key re-producers of this discourse.
4.3 The Win-Win Discourse on Protected Areas
From the late 1980s, the fortress conservation discourse was gradually overtaken
by a competing discourse focusing on the role of local participation in conservation (Adams and Hulme 2001). This discourse consists of two main elements. First,
it states that in order to achieve conservation it is necessary to let people in and
around the protected areas participate in the management of these areas. Second,
local communities should benefit from conservation, which will also lead to local
support for the protected areas.
As in the fortress conservation discourse, the primary concern for the win-win
discourse is to conserve biodiversity. However, it promotes an integration of interests of local people as a means to achieve conservation. Thus, the set-up involves
aspects of benefit-sharing, compensation, and local participation, and the partnerships are argued to constitute win-win situations implying both environmental
conservation and local development. Four main factors have made the win-win
discourse on conservation hegemonic.
First, it draws upon the basic ideas that became influential through the
Brundtland Report ‘Our Common Future’ of a win-win relationship between environment and development (World Commission on Environment and Development
1987). Second, from the 1980s, there was an increased pressure from development
and human-rights-based activists and indigenous groups to change conservation
practices in a more ‘people-friendly’ direction (Adams and McShane 1992; Bonner
1993). Third, the shift to the win-win discourse on protected areas also formed part
of a more general shift within developmental policy, from a ‘top-down’ approach
to a focus on ‘participation’ (Cooke and Kothari 2001; Adams 2009). Fourth, neoliberal economic policies have had great influence on conservation policy in general
during the last couple of decades (Sullivan 2006; Heynen et al. 2007; Igoe and
Brockington 2007; Brockington et al. 2008; Igoe and Sullivan 2009; Büscher 2010).
The win-win discourse on protected areas is in line with neoliberal thinking by the
emphasis on how markets for tourism are needed to finance conservation.
All the major conservation organizations, such as IUCN, WWF, the Nature
Conservancy and Conservation International describe their activities as based on
such a people-friendly strategy. Claude Martin, former Director General of WWF
International, provided an example of a contribution to the win-win discourse
from big conservation saying that
» for a protected area to be successful, local communities and indigenous people must
be adequately involved from the earliest planning stages. Local knowledge and traditional management practices are being included in management strategies, and a
growing number of protected areas are being managed by local communities and
indigenous people.
Chapter 4 · Conservation Discourses Versus Practices
4
cated within biology, and more recently within specializations such as conservation
biology and natural resources management. Natural scientists, who work at universities and research institutes, have also been key re-producers of this discourse.
4.3 The Win-Win Discourse on Protected Areas
From the late 1980s, the fortress conservation discourse was gradually overtaken
by a competing discourse focusing on the role of local participation in conservation (Adams and Hulme 2001). This discourse consists of two main elements. First,
it states that in order to achieve conservation it is necessary to let people in and
around the protected areas participate in the management of these areas. Second,
local communities should benefit from conservation, which will also lead to local
support for the protected areas.
As in the fortress conservation discourse, the primary concern for the win-win
discourse is to conserve biodiversity. However, it promotes an integration of interests of local people as a means to achieve conservation. Thus, the set-up involves
aspects of benefit-sharing, compensation, and local participation, and the partnerships are argued to constitute win-win situations implying both environmental
conservation and local development. Four main factors have made the win-win
discourse on conservation hegemonic.
First, it draws upon the basic ideas that became influential through the
Brundtland Report ‘Our Common Future’ of a win-win relationship between environment and development (World Commission on Environment and Development
1987). Second, from the 1980s, there was an increased pressure from development
and human-rights-based activists and indigenous groups to change conservation
practices in a more ‘people-friendly’ direction (Adams and McShane 1992; Bonner
1993). Third, the shift to the win-win discourse on protected areas also formed part
of a more general shift within developmental policy, from a ‘top-down’ approach
to a focus on ‘participation’ (Cooke and Kothari 2001; Adams 2009). Fourth, neoliberal economic policies have had great influence on conservation policy in general
during the last couple of decades (Sullivan 2006; Heynen et al. 2007; Igoe and
Brockington 2007; Brockington et al. 2008; Igoe and Sullivan 2009; Büscher 2010).
The win-win discourse on protected areas is in line with neoliberal thinking by the
emphasis on how markets for tourism are needed to finance conservation.
All the major conservation organizations, such as IUCN, WWF, the Nature
Conservancy and Conservation International describe their activities as based on
such a people-friendly strategy. Claude Martin, former Director General of WWF
International, provided an example of a contribution to the win-win discourse
from big conservation saying that
» for a protected area to be successful, local communities and indigenous people must
be adequately involved from the earliest planning stages. Local knowledge and traditional management practices are being included in management strategies, and a
growing number of protected areas are being managed by local communities and
indigenous people.
Chapter 4 · Conservation Discourses Versus Practices