“Transnational NGOs now have increasing authority in the interpretation and administration of environmental governance worldwide (Chapin 2004; Campbell 2005; Goldman 2005; West et al. 2006). The World Wide Fund for Nature has become a principle partner mediating the environmentalist visions and policies of the European Union. Involved in a series of projects associated with parks and conservation across Italy and Sardinia, the WWF produces visual narratives of environmentalism on the web, for example, which profoundly affect how nature and culture come to be viewed in a global dreamtime of environmental futures. More importantly, they have taken on a role in mediating the cultural identities of Sardinians and others who are seen as obstacles to the realization of environmentalist goals. These cultures are often see as too rooted in the local to perceive the promise of an ecologically minded global village. These negative stereotypes provide justification for attempts at the ‘public education’ of local residents who stand opposed to the conservation frameworks championed by powerful outsiders” (Heatherington 2010: 137-8)
In the highlands of Sardinia, the establishment of Gennargentu National Park created waves of dissent among local villagers who believed it would hinder their “free continuation of hunting, woodcutting, tourism development, and pastoral herding” (Heatherington 2010: 4). In response, those advocating for the park found it easy to market local inhabitants as ‘backwards’ and thus unable to understand the benefits of such a park. Tracey Heatherington’s book “Wild Sardinia: Indigeneity and the Global Dreamtimes of Environmentalsim” finds itself at the nexus of these contrasting viewpoints and the inherent power dynamics.
Heatherington’s book asks us to be wary of a global environmentalist narrative. As the quote above suggests, images of beautiful mountains, or island atolls surrounded by crystal clear waters advertise these environments as untouched, and ask us to keep them that way. With a fortress conservation strategy (i.e., this area must be protected, nobody can enter), those who have traditionally had access to these ‘untouched’ (read: carefully managed by humans for generations) areas are shut out. Of course, this is a complicated issues that never pans out in the simple terms I am using now. Heatherington’s book gives us a case in which locals are fighting desperately to combat the images WWF displays about their land and about themselves.
I’m sure the organization Survival International would love to tell you all about the wrongs of WWF and fortress conservation. If WWF is the champion of wildlife, Survival International is a champion of humanity and locals similar to the Sardinians in Heatherington’s book. Unfortunately, Survival and WWF have been at each others throats for awhile now, even when what the world needs most is a collaboration between the two.
FYI: Gennargentu National Park is now an established park. The efforts of locals to combat its creation fell through in the end. If you have ever visited, or wish to visit, please keep in mind the contested history of the place.
References:
Heatherington, T. 2010. Wild Sardinia: Indigeneity & the Global Dreamtimes of Environmentalism. Seattle, WA: Univ. of Washington Press.
Campbell, B. 2005. Introduction: Changing policies and ethnographies of environmental engagement. Conservation and Society 3 (2): 280-322.
Chapin, M. 2004. A challenge to conservationists. WorldWatch, November/December 2004, 17-31.
Goldman, M. 1998. Privatizing nature: Political struggles for global commons. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
West, P., Igoe, J., Brockington, D. 2006. Parks and peoples: The social impact of protected areas. Annual Review of Anthropology 3 5:2 51-77.
The Edited Jottings of an Amateur Anthropologist 