This book presents a critical review of the ethics of conservation-related resettlement. We
examine what has become known as the parks versus people debate also known as the new
conservation debate which has pitted indigenous and other local people against nation states
and social scientists against ecologists and conservationists for the past several decades.
Aiming to promote biodiversity conservation and habitat preservation some biologists park
planners and conservation organizations have recommended that indigenous and other people
should be removed from protected areas. Local people for their part have argued that
residents of the areas that were turned into protected areas national parks game reserves and
monuments had managed them in productive ways for generations and that they should have the
right to remain there and to use natural resources as long as they do so sustainably. This
position is often supported by indigenous rights organizations and social scientists
especially anthropologists. There are also some conservation-oriented NGOs that have policies
involving a more human rights-oriented approach aimed at poverty alleviation sustainable
development and social justice. The book discusses biodiversity conservation indigenous
peoples (those who are ethnic minorities and who are often marginalized politically) and
protected areas those categories of land set aside by nation-states that have various kinds of
rules about land use and residence. The focus initially is on case studies from protected areas
in the United States including Yellowstone National Park Yosemite National Park and Glacier
National Park and on national monuments and historical parks where resettlement took place. We
then consider issues of coercive conservation in southern Africa including Hwange National
Park (Zimbabwe) the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (Botswana) Etosha National Park and
Bwabwata National Park (Namibia) and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (South Africa and Botswana).
All of these cases involved involuntary resettlement at the hands of the governments.In the
book we consider some of the social impacts of conservation-forced resettlement (CfR) many of
which tend to be negative. After that we assess some of the strategies employed by indigenous
peoples in their efforts to recover rights of access to protected areas and the cultural and
natural resources that they contain. Examples are drawn from cases in Asia Africa and South
America. Conclusions are provided regarding the ethics of conservation-related resettlement and
some of the best practices that could be followed particularly with regard to indigenous
peoples.
