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- Convenors:
-
Yu Luo
(University of Puget Sound)
Gao Yufang (Yale University)
Tashi Sangpo Ju
Wen Zhou (Yale University)
Thandiwe Mweetwa (Zambian Carnivore Programme)
Xiang Zhao (Shanshui conservation centre)
Rachel DeMotts (University of Puget Sound)
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- Format:
- Roundtable
- Sessions:
- Monday 25 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
This roundtable problematizes the dichotomy between the conventional "conflict" discourse and the emerging "coexistence" discourse in wildlife conservation. We consider conflict and coexistence as relational from indigenous perspectives in the Chinese, African, and cross-continental contexts.
Long Abstract:
In the past decade or so, academic and public discourses about human-wildlife relations have arguably witnessed a paradigm shift from "conflict" to "coexistence." Scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in wildlife conservation have realized the need to go beyond the nature-culture dichotomy by considering human and wildlife as interdependent rather than independent. However, there is still much need to problematize the dichotomy between the conventional "conflict" discourse and the emerging "coexistence" discourse. This roundtable considers conflict and coexistence as relational, not oppositional, in human-wildlife interactions, by probing into the underlying assumptions about human, wildlife, and their intricate relations. How are conflict and coexistence conceptualized based on different perspectives and experiences?
This roundtable uses an interactive format to encourage conversations between anthropologists, political ecologists, conservationists, and local representatives. We highlight an interesting juxtaposition of anthropology and conservation biology over the past decade, wherein the former has reflected on its anthropocentric roots by reconsidering more-than-human relations and the latter has shifted from preserving dehumanized wilderness to engaging local communities and livelihoods. Drawing from case studies in the Chinese, African, and cross-continental contexts, we pay attention to indigenous perspectives -- often overlooked by policy interventions that have rendered locals into conservation subjects through technical approaches to conflict resolution. This roundtable thus takes into account the ambivalence and complexity of locals’ attitudes towards different wildlife species, the integrated landscapes that are not characterized by separated habitats or resource competitions between species, and the power dynamics and decision making in how we treat nonhuman species.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Monday 25 October, 2021, -Paper short abstract:
Luo will share her reflections on wildlife conservation in southwest China and the China-Africa ivory trade from an anthropological perspective. Her research interest includes ethnicity and indigeneity, Asian borderlands, heritage and tourism, urban-rural transformation, and China’s global nexus.
Paper long abstract:
Yu Luo has been working at the City University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor in the Department of Chinese and History from 2017 to 2021. She will be joining the University of Puget Sound as the Suzanne Wilson Barnett Chair of Contemporary China Studies starting from Fall 2021. Her publications appeared in Modern China, Social Anthropology, Verge: Global Studies in Asias, Social and Cultural Geography, and International Journal of Heritage Studies, as well as a contribution to the Handbook on Ethnic Minorities in China. Luo holds a Bachelor’s degree in environmental economics from Beijing University and a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from Yale University. She was a 2016-2017 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Chinese Studies, University of California Berkeley.
Paper short abstract:
This presentation will address the complexities of the illegal wildlife trade in southern Africa through a political ecology lens, with a focus on the ways in which militarized approaches that continue to be popular with donors marginalize local communities.
Paper long abstract:
Rachel DeMotts is professor and director of the Environmental Policy and Decision-Making Program at the University of Puget Sound. As a political ecologist conducting community-based research in southern Africa for nearly twenty years, her central interest is in creating space for engaging with the often hidden experiences of local communities living with wildlife, conservation, and tourism. Her work addresses the politics of transboundary conservation, gender, tourism, and human-wildlife conflict, with particular focus on Namibia and Botswana. Central to this work is the question of how, and to what end, rural communities in the region are and are not able to participate in the often externally imposed, mainstream conservation project. She is a frequent collaborator in and contributor to applied development work in the region, in partnership with local NGOs and experts. She holds a BA in Political Science and History from Marquette University and an MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Paper short abstract:
Reflections on human-elephant conflict in rural Gabon, situated within the broader context of environmental conservation and rural development in the forests of Equatorial Africa.
Paper long abstract:
Wen Zhou is a doctoral candidate in environmental anthropology at Yale University. Her research considers the intersections of forest governance, development imaginaries, and cross-cultural engagements following the arrival of Chinese logging companies in rural Gabon.
Paper short abstract:
This presentation will share how Tibetan Buddhist monks consider the interactions between people and large carnivores on the Tibetan Plateau and compare it with the mainstream conservationist thinking.
Paper long abstract:
Yufang Gao is a Ph.D. candidate in wildlife conservation and environmental anthropology at Yale University. He holds a B.S. in Biology from Peking University and an M.S. in Environmental Science from Yale. He has worked as a conservation practitioner for several international, national and local NGOs on a variety of conservation projects related to large carnivore conservation. He has also researched the illicit trade in elephant ivory in Africa and Asia. His dissertation research looks into human-carnivore coexistence on the Tibetan Plateau. Khenpo Tashi Sangpo Ju is a Tibetan Buddhist monk and the founder of Nyanpo Yutse Conservation Association, a local grassroots NGO dedicated to wildlife conservation.
Paper short abstract:
Human-Carnivore Conflict it is on the rise in areas where it has historically been uncommon. I will share the lessons learnt from our collaborative work to mitigate the emerging Human-Lion Conflict due to livestock predation in eastern Zambia.
Paper long abstract:
Thandiwe Mweetwa is a wildlife biologist working with the Zambian Carnivore Programme (ZCP) in Eastern Zambia. As Project Manager for ZCP’s Luangwa site, she coordinates the organization’s research, conservation and outreach activities in South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) and the adjoining Game Management Areas (GMAs). Her research areas of interest include studying population dynamics of large carnivores and threats to their persistence as well as understanding the nature and extent of human-carnivore conflict in the Luangwa Valley. Thandiwe is a National Geographic Explorer and an alumna of the Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa Program. She holds a BSc in Applied Animal Biology from the University of British Columbia and an MSc in Natural Resources Conservation from the University of Arizona.