Contemporary Culture, Use, and Conservation of Sea Turtles
325
In 1999, sea turtles were a focal point of protests at WTO meetings in Seattle,
WA. A subgroup of protesters who focused on the issue of TED use in shrimp trawls
costumed themselves as sea turtles, and their images were picked up by the media
(Figure 12.4). The turtle protesters became a symbol of an antiglobalization movement in general, one that can be considered a form of counterculture, challenging
the promotion of global free trade and associated global values (Yuen et al., 2001).
(Whether the original turtle protesters identify themselves with the wider movement
and all its values is unknown.) In Seattle and at other related protests, the clash of
values was paramount and encompassed nothing less than the very structure of
economic, political, and social life.
12.3 CULTURE AND CONSERVATION: CULTURES OF
CONSERVATION
Section 12.2 illustrates some of the uses of sea turtles (consumptive and nonconsumptive) and the ways that culture mediates such use. As discussed in Section
12.1.3, where the cultural context of the national park model was described, cultures
also influence conservation. The conservation concepts of sustainable use and CBC,
their application to sea turtles, how they reflect the interaction of culture and conservation, and how they fit into cultures of conservation are examined below.
12.3.1 S USTAINABLE U SE
12.3.1.1 Concept
According to the IUCN, sustainable use is central to contemporary conservation
(Section 12.1.3). Sustainable use is generally defined as the managed use of resources
in a way and at a rate that does not compromise their long-term existence. Use can
be either consumptive or nonconsumptive, providing subsistence or commercial
benefits (Freese, 1998). Sustainable use is often an objective of management rather
than a certainty, because of the difficulties in determining definitively the outcomes
of use schemes, and because of the reality that sustainable use programs are often
implemented as alternatives to uncontrolled exploitation.
Sustainable use is based on the argument that wildlife and biodiversity must be
valued by those expected to conserve it, and that value is often derived through use:
“if wildlife has no value, then wildlife and its habitat will be destroyed to make way
for other land uses” (Robinson and Redford, 1991). In the case of impoverished
rural peoples, the most compelling value is assumed to be economic, and although
this reduction of local values for wildlife to economic ones is oversimplified, it
reflects the pervasiveness and reality of the market economy.
Sustainable use is the subject of much debate. The number of successful cases
of sustainable use, and particularly of commercial, consumptive use, of wildlife is
low (Freese, 1998). Difficulties are related to biological sustainability (e.g., the
inability of resources to sustain even low levels of use, or predicting correctly the
response of a population to use), and long-lived animals with slow reproductive rates
and low levels of density dependence pose particular challenges for use regimes
1123 book.book Page 325 Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:50 AM
325
In 1999, sea turtles were a focal point of protests at WTO meetings in Seattle,
WA. A subgroup of protesters who focused on the issue of TED use in shrimp trawls
costumed themselves as sea turtles, and their images were picked up by the media
(Figure 12.4). The turtle protesters became a symbol of an antiglobalization movement in general, one that can be considered a form of counterculture, challenging
the promotion of global free trade and associated global values (Yuen et al., 2001).
(Whether the original turtle protesters identify themselves with the wider movement
and all its values is unknown.) In Seattle and at other related protests, the clash of
values was paramount and encompassed nothing less than the very structure of
economic, political, and social life.
12.3 CULTURE AND CONSERVATION: CULTURES OF
CONSERVATION
Section 12.2 illustrates some of the uses of sea turtles (consumptive and nonconsumptive) and the ways that culture mediates such use. As discussed in Section
12.1.3, where the cultural context of the national park model was described, cultures
also influence conservation. The conservation concepts of sustainable use and CBC,
their application to sea turtles, how they reflect the interaction of culture and conservation, and how they fit into cultures of conservation are examined below.
12.3.1 S USTAINABLE U SE
12.3.1.1 Concept
According to the IUCN, sustainable use is central to contemporary conservation
(Section 12.1.3). Sustainable use is generally defined as the managed use of resources
in a way and at a rate that does not compromise their long-term existence. Use can
be either consumptive or nonconsumptive, providing subsistence or commercial
benefits (Freese, 1998). Sustainable use is often an objective of management rather
than a certainty, because of the difficulties in determining definitively the outcomes
of use schemes, and because of the reality that sustainable use programs are often
implemented as alternatives to uncontrolled exploitation.
Sustainable use is based on the argument that wildlife and biodiversity must be
valued by those expected to conserve it, and that value is often derived through use:
“if wildlife has no value, then wildlife and its habitat will be destroyed to make way
for other land uses” (Robinson and Redford, 1991). In the case of impoverished
rural peoples, the most compelling value is assumed to be economic, and although
this reduction of local values for wildlife to economic ones is oversimplified, it
reflects the pervasiveness and reality of the market economy.
Sustainable use is the subject of much debate. The number of successful cases
of sustainable use, and particularly of commercial, consumptive use, of wildlife is
low (Freese, 1998). Difficulties are related to biological sustainability (e.g., the
inability of resources to sustain even low levels of use, or predicting correctly the
response of a population to use), and long-lived animals with slow reproductive rates
and low levels of density dependence pose particular challenges for use regimes
1123 book.book Page 325 Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:50 AM