Paper short abstract:

The Bouma National Heritage Park, Fiji is presented as an example of Tim Ingold's taskscape as it reflects the fundamental indissolubility of humans, non-humans and landscape. The paper reflects on the politics of dwelling occurring within Bouma's taskscape between 2004 and 2006.

Paper long abstract:

In 1990, the Boumā people of Taveuni, Fiji established the Boumā National Heritage Park. A growing dependence on the market economy and a desire to find an economic alternative to commercial logging on their communally-tenured land, led to their decision to approach the New Zealand government for assistance to establish the Park. In 2004-2006, despite receiving first place in an international protected area award in 2002, internal conflict was worsening. According to the Boumā people, this was partly due to the community-based ecotourism development process which had paid little attention to the vanua as a set of core cultural values and a human-environment relationship. Since the establishment of the Park, the people of Boumā have become increasingly conscious of references to Drawing on Tim Ingold's (2000) 'taskscapes' and 'politics of dwelling' (2010), the vanua is presented as relationally linking humans with other elements of the environment within a landscape. This contrasts with a common Western epistemological approach of treating humans as independent of other cosmological and physical elements and as positioned against the landscape. It has been argued that the vanua is incompatible with values associated with capitalist ecotourism models. However, despite numerous obstacles, the Boumā National Heritage Park is one example of a group's endeavours to culturally hybridise the vanua with entrepreneurship to create a locally meaningful protected area management model. The Boumā people call this hybrid 'business va'avanua'.

Paper short abstract:

The main aim with this paper is to discuss contradicting positions of metropolitan conservationists/governmental institutions and local inhabitants on what kinds of values the landscapes of national parks incorporate and on the aim of conservation and protection.

Paper long abstract:

The mountainous and forested landscapes of the inland part of South-Eastern Norway are characterized by several national parks. In many cases there have been, and still are, controversies over the purposes of the conservation and over the modes in which the parks should be managed. When a national park is initiated, one of the central tenets is often the protection of nature environments that are perceived more or less unaltered by humans. People living at the borders of the national parks tend in contrast to see the same areas as part of their own cultural landscapes. What is to be preserved in the perspective of many locals is hence their own local or regional cultural history, which in these cases is very much tied to traditional modes of utilizing the mountain areas. Until quite recently summer farming was a vital part of dairy cattle husbandry, while the fish and game represented substantial contributions to household economies. More or less belonging to the past today, many locals take pride in transforming these practices into a tradition one is having, thus making it an important dimension in the contemporary production of local identities. The main aim with this paper is to discuss the seemingly contradicting positions of on the one hand metropolitan conservationists and governmental institutions and on the other hand local inhabitants, on what kinds of values the landscapes incorporate and on the aim of conservation and protection.

Paper short abstract:

The paper presents a case study of contentious management of the Tatra National Park in Slovakia, in the 2000s. It focuses on the dynamics of disputes that have accompanied the work on a new management plan. It analyses the relationship between the « natural » and « social » order as constructed by different stakeholders.

Paper long abstract:

The paper presents a case study of contentious management of the Tatra National Park in Slovakia, in the 2000s. The national park has undergone a series of substantial changes since 1989 which resulted in the multiplication of actors and stakeholders involved at various levels of governance. This process has been paralleled by accumulation of legislative and administrative rules which, being often contradictory, hugely contributed to the increase of conflicting positions between these actors. Considering these changes, the paper focuses on the dynamics of disputes that have accompanied the work on a new management plan for the park. Reflecting the diverse settings and forms of public debate, I analyse the relationship between the "natural" and "social" order, focusing mainly on the project of participative planning, reasons of its failure, and on the subsequent disputes and protest events. The paper highlights the role of natural events and actors that have influenced the evolution of the disputes and changed configurations of human actors. Special attention is given to the strategy of environmental NGOs. The paper demonstrates how their mobilization of scientific expertise and selective use of the European regulations constructs the "natural order" as separated from the social issues. It is argued that this strategy has had important consequences. First of all, the environmental NGOs have failed to mobilize local communities and to build a broader coalition that would support the idea of the park as a common public space.

Paper short abstract:

The populations of the Kangchendzonga National Park especially yak herders adapt to changes and the phenomenon of compartmentalization of space, boundaries of a nature that is increasingly regulated. ? Representations vary according to groups (local inhabitants, tourists, Parc agencies)

Paper long abstract:

Local communities are largely incorporated into the management of the Kangchendzonga National Park and participate in sustainable development. People and especially the yak herders adapt to changes and the phenomenon of compartmentalization of space, boundaries of a nature that is increasingly regulated. These groups or communities based on local democratic movements could be detailed in their relationship with the land and political actors : what is the terminology of the groups, which actors are they, what is their role in territorial and political environmental policy, what is their vision of the Park ?

Tourists also contribute to representations of mountain's space according to different local populations, the area is a place for outdoor recreation and relaxation, the protected area of the Kangchendzonga National Park is largely developed and seduce the urban cities of the Gangetic plain, especially the growing city of Kolkata.

Paper short abstract:

One decade of research on the relationships among humans and biodiversity in the W of Niger showed how local cultures live in a total biodiversity environment, conserving the natural vegetation cover and macrofauna. It also showed a need of integration among conservation policies and local cultures

Paper long abstract:

One decade of anthropological and ethnobiological research on the relationships among humans, lions and biodiversity in the W of Niger allowed to compile information about how local cultures manage to live in a total biodiversity environment, conserving the natural vegetation cover and macrofauna. Developing a methodology formerly applied by me in India and Portugal, all relevant factors that determine the relationships among humans and the other species have been studied in the field. Those factors are ecological, ethological, hunting-gathering, agrarian, socio-cultural, psychological and political. A special attention is given to the coexistence with large carnivores, in this case the lion, as they are essential for ecological balance, their presence indicates a large range of biodiversity, they are the ones with which the coexistence may be more problematic, and they usually have a strong cultural signification that may indicate the relationship that a society has towards nature. In the W of Niger, most communities are of Gourmantché people. Before the current research, few studies were made on their civilisation. Local communities have a large range of uses of natural resources, including gathering, bow and arrow hunting, agriculture and cattle grazing. Their cultural representations include the belief on the existence of spiritual beings linked to nature, that manage all beings and reality. Those representations regulate their relationships with wildlife and their uses of natural resources. Additionally, they keep practises that allow a balanced coexistence with macrofauna. A reality that current policies should take in account to promote both biological and cultural conservation

Paper short abstract:

The Marine Park Luiz Saldanha was created by a top-down administrative process. Weak governance and absence of local stakeholders’ participation generated conflicts. The Project MARGov proposed to develop a model of collaborative governance that can be extended to a future Protected Marine Areas Network.

Paper long abstract:

The Marine Park Luiz Saldanha was created by a top-down administrative process that generated conflicts, in particular with the local fishing communities unable to accept the restriction of their rights without being involved in the decision process.

Weak governance and absence of local stakeholders' participation in the management of Marine Protected Areas are obstacles to the sustainability of the Ocean. The model being developed by MARGov defends the sharing of responsibilities among stakeholders, namely in areas of coastal habitats and artisanal fisheries. The project aims to empower actors for change, by the intensification of the eco-social dialog; to strengthen the social and human component promoting active participation of local communities and structure a GIS to support the collaborative process and to become a database to support the development of actions for long term management;

Since 2008 MARGov Project (http://margov.isegi.unl.pt) is focusing in deconstructing a conflict through appropriate methodologies creating spaces of encounter of different interests, equalizing power. For this, specific techniques have been used and a plurilogue emerged out of a continuous collaborative process cherished by a diversified team operating in a multiplicity of spaces.

In this paper, the authors discuss the appropriated methodologies for deconstructing the conflict, their application in this case study, illustrating with examples along the process and presenting the results achieved by this continuous work with stakeholders, drawing lessons for other similar controversial contexts.