Contemporary Culture, Use, and Conservation of Sea Turtles
311
peoples, and that indigenous peoples have stronger cultural biases toward use, which
may not always be the case.
Tradition refers to handing down knowledge, or passing on a doctrine, from one
generation to another. Often, tradition is associated with a sense of ceremony, duty,
and respect. The process by which certain elements of knowledge are passed down,
whereas others are not, shows that traditions are selective (Williams, 1983). Like
the term indigenous, tradition is used to explain or justify certain cultural practices.
When evaluating traditional claims to resources use, some people claim that, to be
traditional, an activity cannot have changed over time; for example, fishing for turtles
with an outboard motor cannot be traditional when it was originally done using a
dugout canoe (see Campbell, 2000). This interpretation of tradition focuses on the
means for achieving, rather than the meaning of a tradition. Furthermore, it implies
stasis that has never existed in human history. The addition of an outboard motor to
a canoe, for example, is an incremental step in the evolution of technology, rather
than a leap from traditional to nontraditional. Improved technologies do not always
lead to increased resource exploitation (Lyver and Moller, 1999), and Berkes et al.
(2000) warn against associating tradition with stasis.
Tradition has become more important in conservation because of the increasing
popularity of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Studies of ecological change
over time have sometimes challenged Western scientists’ interpretations of environmental change and revealed the logic of indigenous or traditional management
practices (Berkes et al., 2000; Leach and Mearns, 1996; Nader, 1996), and Miller
(2000) discusses the links between traditional and nontraditional knowledge of sea
turtles. The existence of TEK in communities does not equate automatically with
desire or willingness to conserve, but there is nevertheless a need to recognize it.
Subsistence economies are those that extract the basis of existence from the
natural environment, and that focus on satisfaction of existing food needs rather than
on accumulation of surplus (Nietschmann, 1973). Such regimes existed prior to, or
exist external to, the market economy, and are by and large devalued and destroyed
by it (Escobar, 1992). With the widespread introduction of market economies
throughout the world, few fully subsistence regimes exist, and the term has been
“implicitly redefined as the individual producer’s socio-biological survival under
conditions of accumulation of capital” (Robert, 1992).
In a conservation context, depletion of sea turtles (and other species) is often
blamed on the transition from a subsistence to market economy (e.g., Nietschmann,
1979; Spring, 1995; see also Section 12.2.1.1). Although such transitions have
adverse environmental and cultural impacts, the reemergence of true subsistence
economies is unlikely. Nonsubsistence use does not by definition imply large-scale,
uncontrolled use, only that capital accumulation might result.
Discussions of culture and conservation are often restricted to “other” cultures
that, in opposition to dominant Western culture, might be community based, subsistence, traditional, or indigenous. Although it is important to understand such terms,
this narrow focus depicts culture as influencing conservation somewhere else. In the
following examination of culture and sea turtle use and conservation, evidence from
both other cultures and Western culture is included. Culture informs how all readers
make sense of their worlds, including the world of sea turtle conservation.
1123 book.book Page 311 Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:50 AM
311
peoples, and that indigenous peoples have stronger cultural biases toward use, which
may not always be the case.
Tradition refers to handing down knowledge, or passing on a doctrine, from one
generation to another. Often, tradition is associated with a sense of ceremony, duty,
and respect. The process by which certain elements of knowledge are passed down,
whereas others are not, shows that traditions are selective (Williams, 1983). Like
the term indigenous, tradition is used to explain or justify certain cultural practices.
When evaluating traditional claims to resources use, some people claim that, to be
traditional, an activity cannot have changed over time; for example, fishing for turtles
with an outboard motor cannot be traditional when it was originally done using a
dugout canoe (see Campbell, 2000). This interpretation of tradition focuses on the
means for achieving, rather than the meaning of a tradition. Furthermore, it implies
stasis that has never existed in human history. The addition of an outboard motor to
a canoe, for example, is an incremental step in the evolution of technology, rather
than a leap from traditional to nontraditional. Improved technologies do not always
lead to increased resource exploitation (Lyver and Moller, 1999), and Berkes et al.
(2000) warn against associating tradition with stasis.
Tradition has become more important in conservation because of the increasing
popularity of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). Studies of ecological change
over time have sometimes challenged Western scientists’ interpretations of environmental change and revealed the logic of indigenous or traditional management
practices (Berkes et al., 2000; Leach and Mearns, 1996; Nader, 1996), and Miller
(2000) discusses the links between traditional and nontraditional knowledge of sea
turtles. The existence of TEK in communities does not equate automatically with
desire or willingness to conserve, but there is nevertheless a need to recognize it.
Subsistence economies are those that extract the basis of existence from the
natural environment, and that focus on satisfaction of existing food needs rather than
on accumulation of surplus (Nietschmann, 1973). Such regimes existed prior to, or
exist external to, the market economy, and are by and large devalued and destroyed
by it (Escobar, 1992). With the widespread introduction of market economies
throughout the world, few fully subsistence regimes exist, and the term has been
“implicitly redefined as the individual producer’s socio-biological survival under
conditions of accumulation of capital” (Robert, 1992).
In a conservation context, depletion of sea turtles (and other species) is often
blamed on the transition from a subsistence to market economy (e.g., Nietschmann,
1979; Spring, 1995; see also Section 12.2.1.1). Although such transitions have
adverse environmental and cultural impacts, the reemergence of true subsistence
economies is unlikely. Nonsubsistence use does not by definition imply large-scale,
uncontrolled use, only that capital accumulation might result.
Discussions of culture and conservation are often restricted to “other” cultures
that, in opposition to dominant Western culture, might be community based, subsistence, traditional, or indigenous. Although it is important to understand such terms,
this narrow focus depicts culture as influencing conservation somewhere else. In the
following examination of culture and sea turtle use and conservation, evidence from
both other cultures and Western culture is included. Culture informs how all readers
make sense of their worlds, including the world of sea turtle conservation.
1123 book.book Page 311 Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:50 AM