Conservation Industrial Complex
Fortress Conservation
Fortress conservation is destroying the land and lives of Indigenous Peoples. But this model is embraced by Western conservation NGOs, and this is where most of the Western funding for nature protection is going. Why? Because the myths that sustain this model of conservation are reproduced in school texts, media, wildlife documentaries, NGO adverts, etc. The images we have seen since childhood about "nature," and the words we use to describe it, shape our way of thinking, our policies, and our actions. We tend to assume these words and images are the reality, as if they were neutral, objective, or "scientific." But they are not. Conservation is rooted in racism, colonialism, white supremacy, social injustice, land theft, extractivism, and violence. Contributors to this section show the role that the Global North plays in perpetuating these injustices by funding conservation that violates Indigenous Peoples rights. These projects lack transparency and accountability and don't tackle the real causes of the environmental crises.[1]
Salonga National Park
Is a park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is known as an 'emblematic Protected Area. "It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's the the biggest rain forest reserve in Africa and one of the biggest in the world. It also has funding from the United States, from Germany, and from the European Commission, among many other donors. What we found with our local partners was pretty shocking. In just eleven communities out of six hundred bordering the park, there were several cases of extrajudicial killings and multiple rapes by so-called eco-guards. And out of 250 people that were interviewed, sixty-three reported cases of physical abuse and torture of the local population.[2]
Sources
- ↑ Decolonize Conservation: Global Voices for Indigenous Self-determination, Land, and a World in Common, Edited by Ashley Dawson, Fiore Longo, and Survival International; Page, 119.
- ↑ Decolonize Conservation: Global Voices for Indigenous Self-determination, Land, and a World in Common, Edited by Ashley Dawson, Fiore Longo, and Survival International; Page, 122.