Views on Conservation: Western vs. Indigenous

Views on Conservation: Western vs. Indigenous

Western View Indigenous View

Natural resources are real property and private ownership is possible No such thing as ownership; people are stewards of the land, thus land is usually not owned, traded, or sold

Parks are only for nature People are part of nature and therefore can be included in parks

Conservation is difficult, if not impossible without reconciling the different philosophies on conservation between the West and Indigenous communities. "Eco-colonialism," or the imposition of Western conservation views on conservation projects involving indigenous people are doomed to failure and can be destructive of indigenous culture.

In 1996, a meeting of representatives from 229 indigenous groups in the Amazon produced a document that affirmed their sovereignty in environmental matters. To the Community of Concerned Environmentalists stated that indigenous Amazonians "have not delegated to any outside NGO the right to speak on their behalf: they wish to speak to the Western world directly and forthrightly."