Eviction Notice: A Cry for Help for the Only People Who Can Help
by Sahara DeLaughter
Is helping the environment worth hurting the people of Earth? Conservation is certainly a step in the right direction, but when is it a step too far? Preserving and conserving the Earth are two separate actions. Conservation is the “proper use of nature” while preservation is “protection of nature from use.” So what do we do? I think a better place to start is to think about what not to do; we should not start with kicking people out of their homes to “preserve” land, but rather allow the indigenous people to teach us their ways on how to conserve the earth.
The national park service was created in 1916 and has flourished in 100 countries with 1,200 national parks or preserves globally. The U.S. has become a prominent influence in other countries regarding preservation. Many countries, where indigenous populations still reside, are going through the same metamorphosis as the U.S. did in the 1400’s.
Mark Dowie wrote Conservation Refugees to enlighten people about the treatment of indigenous people around the world. Dowie wrote that in 1930 leaders from Uganda were introduced to conservationists. They were told that miners and loggers were an imminent threat to their valleys. Resulting from this, three forest reserves were created to preserve the land. This included the Batwa people, which had become “part of the fauna.” Conservationists were distraught over the poaching and hunting of the silver backed gorillas; these gorillas were recognized as a threatened species allowing conservationists the right tools they needed to expel the Batwa people. When asked if they were responsible for the hunting of the gorillas, the Batwa people explained their kinship to the gorillas and how neighboring tribes hunted and poached the gorillas for their own benefit. Soon the Batwa people were expelled from their homelands to preserve the gorillas. This tribe, forced to adapt to life outside the forest, became lost. The Batwa people were at too many disadvantages to prosper in current society.
The Botswanan people of South Africa are having similar issues. Their government wants to “preserve” the land they are in as a “wildlife corridor.” Fortunately, the movement to evict them was rejected. Indigenous people around the world are getting the same unfair treatment. Something that needs to happen is the movement to have indigenous people at the meetings/congress of their land. Leaving out the people of the land involved is what’s making it so easy to take their land. They need to be easily interpreted as well as fully comprehending what is going on at these congresses. The Maasai people over the last 30 years have lost a majority of their land to conservation projects in Africa. Martin Saning’O, a Maasai leader, was abundantly clear about his thoughts on the actions preceding over his land. “Our ways of farming pollinated diverse seed species and maintained corridors between ecosystems.” His effort to keep his tribe protected is what needs to happen in every incident of conservation takeover, to do so leaders need to present discussing land rights.
Working with indigenous people is what needs to happen to stimulate green living as well as the incorporation of human rights. Kicking populations off lands is morally wrong and unjust. This is something every country should have learned already. With the history of the U.S. and Native Americans, the western populations should definitely be promoting native rights with responsible conservation. History can only repeat itself so many times. We all need to learn the importance of the people of the Earth which will encompass the importance of the Earth itself.
by Sahara DeLaughter
Is helping the environment worth hurting the people of Earth? Conservation is certainly a step in the right direction, but when is it a step too far? Preserving and conserving the Earth are two separate actions. Conservation is the “proper use of nature” while preservation is “protection of nature from use.” So what do we do? I think a better place to start is to think about what not to do; we should not start with kicking people out of their homes to “preserve” land, but rather allow the indigenous people to teach us their ways on how to conserve the earth.
The national park service was created in 1916 and has flourished in 100 countries with 1,200 national parks or preserves globally. The U.S. has become a prominent influence in other countries regarding preservation. Many countries, where indigenous populations still reside, are going through the same metamorphosis as the U.S. did in the 1400’s.
Mark Dowie wrote Conservation Refugees to enlighten people about the treatment of indigenous people around the world. Dowie wrote that in 1930 leaders from Uganda were introduced to conservationists. They were told that miners and loggers were an imminent threat to their valleys. Resulting from this, three forest reserves were created to preserve the land. This included the Batwa people, which had become “part of the fauna.” Conservationists were distraught over the poaching and hunting of the silver backed gorillas; these gorillas were recognized as a threatened species allowing conservationists the right tools they needed to expel the Batwa people. When asked if they were responsible for the hunting of the gorillas, the Batwa people explained their kinship to the gorillas and how neighboring tribes hunted and poached the gorillas for their own benefit. Soon the Batwa people were expelled from their homelands to preserve the gorillas. This tribe, forced to adapt to life outside the forest, became lost. The Batwa people were at too many disadvantages to prosper in current society.
The Botswanan people of South Africa are having similar issues. Their government wants to “preserve” the land they are in as a “wildlife corridor.” Fortunately, the movement to evict them was rejected. Indigenous people around the world are getting the same unfair treatment. Something that needs to happen is the movement to have indigenous people at the meetings/congress of their land. Leaving out the people of the land involved is what’s making it so easy to take their land. They need to be easily interpreted as well as fully comprehending what is going on at these congresses. The Maasai people over the last 30 years have lost a majority of their land to conservation projects in Africa. Martin Saning’O, a Maasai leader, was abundantly clear about his thoughts on the actions preceding over his land. “Our ways of farming pollinated diverse seed species and maintained corridors between ecosystems.” His effort to keep his tribe protected is what needs to happen in every incident of conservation takeover, to do so leaders need to present discussing land rights.
Working with indigenous people is what needs to happen to stimulate green living as well as the incorporation of human rights. Kicking populations off lands is morally wrong and unjust. This is something every country should have learned already. With the history of the U.S. and Native Americans, the western populations should definitely be promoting native rights with responsible conservation. History can only repeat itself so many times. We all need to learn the importance of the people of the Earth which will encompass the importance of the Earth itself.