Eliminating Culture and Behaviors
The indigenous people that are forced out of their land also lose parts of their culture embedded in resources. Darrell Posey argued that indigenous knowledge could make a significant contribution to conservation (Posey 2008:4). Posey also thought that “what looked natural might be cultural, and thus that indigenous people should be seen as models for conservation, rather than as opposed to it and thus denied land rights” (Posey 2008:5).
Many of the local residents of these conservation sites or national parks have cultural rituals and practices that are adapted to their local environment. Through these practices, they have been able to survive, and a culture has emerged from this. Conservation Refugees by Mark Dowie reports on one such case, the Batwa Pygmie from Africa. Having lived in conservation camps, under restrictions that limit centuries-old cultural practices, community member Kwokwo Barume observed that they themselves are dying out by saying “we are heading toward extinction” (Dowie 2009:70). Some of these restrictions include: no cultivation, no hunting, no gathering, and sacred sites and burial grounds are off limits, all of these being essential to their daily lives. These limitations help lead the way toward the extinction of hunter-gather groups around the world to make way for new game reserves, and to help develop projects for ecotourism in which the national government gives land up easily for these projects and not for the local residents themselves.
Read more about this topic: Conservation Refugee, Definition
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