Conservation Refugee - Definition

Definition

Conservation is defined by Webster's Dictionary as the “careful preservation and protection of something; especially: planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect.” The definition of "refugee" from that same dictionary reads as follows: “a person that flees; especially: a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution.” Unfortunately when you put these two separate concepts together you end up with a widely unknown concept called Conservation Refugees. These particular refugees neither flee from danger or persecution as the definition would lead you to believe but are actually being forced from their homes and off their ancestral lands by the government, military, or as it is in most cases by an organization in order to allow conservation of the area or particular species within the area. Rights; do conservation refugees have them? The answer much to the dismay of modern society is not really. Conservation Refugees live in a world colored in shades of gray; limbo. They had rights when they were recognized citizens of their state, country or nation, but as soon as they were forced from their lands and away from their homes they lost their status as citizens and rights as people. Conservation refugees do not possess the right of eminent domain as it would pertain to the laws of essentially any developed country around the world. Eminent domain has many names: compulsory purchase, resumption/compulsory acquisition and expropriation are defined as the inherent power of the state to seize private property or expropriate property without the owner’s consent. The property is taken for either government use or is delegated to a third party for private or public use. Many other basic rights are being taken from these people or comprehensively ignored. Human rights including property rights and customary rights as well as many more, the most important being their right to due process. Since they essentially no longer hold any status as citizens local courts will not take cases concerning the rights of conservation refugees. It is left to the national and international courts to hear cases, but since there are few official laws pertaining to the rights of refugees these cases are usually taken on an individual basis which can be extremely tedious and are usually drowning in red tape. This vast sea of red tape that refugees must swim through is caused by the conflicts and partnerships between local governments and conservation organizations concerning the parameters for conservation areas. Individual cases can take years, if not decades, to be heard let alone to be decided on and even if the court votes in the refugee’s favor, actual compensation may never be given. Local governments also have many large corporations influencing decisions being made about their governmental structure and policies which usually ignore the plight of the refugee. There are, however, measures being taken to ensure the rights of these refugees. For example the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Court of Justice and even the IUCN have been convening in order to lessen the red tape that surrounds conservation refugees and will allow them easier access to legal means of protecting the rights they used to have.

Many Conservation Refugees are placed in refugee camps