At the Intersection of People, Politics, and Protected Areas: A Mixed Methods Case Study on the Human Dimensions of Conservation in the Buffer Zone of Chitwan National Park, Nepal

Human Geography;Conservation;Chitwan National Park;Postcolonial Theory;Protected Area;Nepal;Geography

Erin, Mclean-Purdon

University of Waterloo

关键词: Human Geography;    Conservation;    Chitwan National Park;    Postcolonial Theory;    Protected Area;    Nepal;    Geography;   

Others  :  https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/10012/9797/5/McLean-Purdon_Erin.pdf

瑞士|英语

来源: UWSPACE Waterloo Institutional Repository

【 摘 要 】

Protected areas impinge on the livelihoods of people, especially in the Global South.In Nepal, a constellation of conservation initiatives including, and tangential to,Chitwan National Park (CNP) have a polarizing impact on the human populationliving in its periphery. In this area, the human dimensions of conservation (HDC) areentangled with and shaped by the socio-cultural context of Nepal—a rigidlyhierarchical society that systematically marginalizes people based on caste, gender,and economic status. This mixed methods case study examined the HDC in theperiphery of CNP. A participatory action research project explored marginalizedpeople’s experiences of conservation. A survey analyzed broader trends in the HDC,elucidating a relationship between a perceived negative impact of conservation andeducation, occupation, and poverty. Drawing from postcolonial theorists—Said,Wainwright, and Spivak—I investigated the role of conservation in the(re)production of discrimination in Nepal. If the inequities engendered byconservation in the periphery of CNP are to be addressed, HDC researchers andconservationists must abandon all pretense of being apolitical, and the marginalizedpeople currently excluded by the conservation discourse must be meaningfullyincluded.