Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the ontological conflicts between indigenous Dukha reindeer herder/hunters in northern Mongolia and state authorities due to a conservation project. While the Dukha view Jer Eezi (land owner) as the responsible power of the taiga, the government attributes this power to itself.

Paper long abstract:

Conflicts rising between indigenous people and state authorities due to conservation projects are increasing in many parts of the world, as traditional indigenous territories mostly coincide with areas that hold 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Although both indigenous people and conservationists think of themselves as the “protectors” of those territories, conflicts about how to protect those territories seem inevitable. This paper discusses how the root of the conflict usually derives from their different understanding of nature, animals and the cosmos, in other words rooted in ontological conflicts. Based on empirical data from a case study in Mongolia, the paper aims to discuss these different understanding of animals and nature among the indigenous Dukha community who believe that Jer eezi (land owner) is the force balancing these relations and the involvement of outside intervention can offend the spirits. On the other hand, for the government authorities, this way of thinking is just superstitious and they believe that by compensating the community with a stipend, so that they can buy meat instead of hunting, the problem can be solved. By focusing on complex dynamics between people, nonhumans and the spirit world, the paper aims to show how the cycle of life and social relations among the communities may be disturbed by the establishment of protected areas when their views are not taken seriously by the authorities.

Paper short abstract:

Baka hunter-gatherers of southeastern Cameroon number around 30,000 but are largely excluded from the management of their forest due in part to ontological and epistemological mismatches between conservationists and the Baka; magic, ritual, and forest spirits dominate Baka-forest relations.

Paper long abstract:

This paper details the spiritual connections that Baka hunter-gatherers of Cameroon hold with their forest and how these compare to the human-forest relations of other forest inhabitants: cultivators, NGOs, logging industries, academics, and ministry officials. Through long-term ethnographic fieldwork and interviews a divergence has become clear between the Baka and other actors; the latter tend to value the forest for it's services and intrinsic and economic properties, whereas the Baka regard themselves as embedded into the fabric of the forest through intangible spiritual and relational continuations. The most powerful of these is materialised through forest spirits and their ritual associations which are a literal manifestation of nature as culture and bind initiates into a relationship with the forest that transcends extrinsic and intrinsic values. However, in the complex context of southeastern Cameroon, a frontier of 'wilderness' ideology and aggressive resource extraction, such relationships with the forest can serve as both a saviour and a threat. Employing a decolonising approach centred on self-determination and participatory action research, efforts to actively identify and revitalise Baka spiritual and relational heritage are underway as one of the only genuine pathways to sustain the biological and cultural diversity of the forest.

Paper short abstract:

From a political ontological approach, this paper explores conflicts involving biological conservation by examining relationships between an indigenous Matsigenka community located inside a Manu National Park (Peru) and members of local governmental and non-governmental conservation organizations.

Paper long abstract:

The important role of indigenous and other local communities in biological conservation initiatives has been recognized as essential for the success of such plans. However, conflicts that arise in the midst of engagements between these communities and other conservationist stakeholders still abound. Political ontological approaches contend that such misunderstandings (and other concomitant problems) arise when parties with different ontologies, that is, different conceptions about what constitutes reality, interact through asymmetric power relations. Using this approach, my objective is to explore conflicts involving environmental conservation in the context of an indigenous Matsigenka community located inside Manu National Park, in the Peruvian Amazon. In particular, I examine the relationships between community members and non-Matsigenka residents of the area, as well as representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations associated with conservation initiatives seeking the participation of the local indigenous population. Using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including ethnographic research conducted over 22 months of fieldwork in the region, I discuss the different notions at play; not only notions of the environment, but also of what is considered “wellbeing” or a “good life,” which seem to be at the heart of many conflicts between conservation initiatives and indigenous self-determination. I argue that, while there are similarities in certain environmental conceptualizations, the worlds of the parties involved differ in several important respects that require an expansion of current theories of environmental decision-making, and that should be taken into consideration when designing and applying effective, culturally appropriate biodiversity conservation programs.

Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to present the images, discourses and narratives surrounding the Serra Calderona Natural Park that have been promoted by the natural park itself and the local administration, in detriment of the local perceptions that have been, for the most part, excluded from the new narratives.

Paper long abstract:

The patrimonialization of nature, through protective measures such as the declaration of Natural Parks, entails a spatial and conceptual reconfiguration of a territory, as it introduces a new official interpretation that contributes to the establishment of a new identity of the protected area. The Serra Calderona Natural Park, located in the Valencian Community, Spain, was declared the 15th of January of 2002, including within its limits 14 municipalities. As a consequence of its declaration, the identity of this area, already viewed by the residents of the nearby cities as a place to practice different nature-linked recreative activities, has shifted to be determined by external perceptions rather than by local ones. The knowledge and experiences of the local inhabitants have been excluded from these narratives, or located in the past, and the leisure activities are presented as the main form of interaction between people and Serra Calderona.

The aim of this paper is to present the images, discourses and narratives that have been institutionally promoted through the natural park itself and the local administration over its nearly two decades of existence. With these objectives in mind, a content analysis of the different promoting materials usen by the park has been carried out, as well as a study of the use that the different municipalities included in the natural park make of its link with it.