Abstract

Wildlife conservation and other environmental protection projects can have tremendous impact on the lives and livelihoods of the often mobile, difficult-to-reach, and marginal peoples who inhabit the same territory. The contributors to this collection of case studies, social scientists as well as natural scientists, are concerned with this human element in biodiversity. They examine the interface between conservation and indigenous communities forced to move or to settle elsewhere in order to accommodate environmental policies and biodiversity concerns. The case studies investigate successful and not so successful community-managed, as well as local participatory, conservation projects in Africa, the Middle East, South and South Eastern Asia, Australia and Latin America. There are lessons to be learned from recent efforts in community managed conservation and this volume significantly contributes to that discussion.

Dawn Chatty is General Editor of Studies in Forced Migration and teaches at the Center for Refugee Studies of the University of Oxford.

Marcus Colchester works for the Forest Peoples Programme.

"[This volume] presents an admirable set of case studies on the effects of modern conservation projects on local peoples from across the globe. The great strength of the volume lies in the diversity of cases."   · International Journal of African Historical Studies

"... this book will be the source material for future generations of researchers ... The many arguments in this book will challenge and hopefully bring forward vigorous debate about the aims and goals of sustainable development and conservation tools."   · The Indigenous Nations Studies Journal