Session I: Humans, Non-human Primates, and the Struggle for Coexistence: A Critical Examination of Great Ape Conservation in Central Africa
Sub-theme
Research and Theory
Keywords
human-animal primate relationships, great ape conservation, compassionate conservation, animal rights, human welfare, interdisciplinary
Start Date
13-10-2018 9:00 AM
End Date
13-10-2018 10:15 AM
Abstract
Africa is home to many of the world’s great ape species, including bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Unfortunately, all species are facing the threat of extinction resulting from human activity. In response, a host of conservation efforts have been implemented to protect great apes, including methods such as protected area management, education and capacity building programs for alternative livelihoods, and ecotourism. However, international conservation efforts have also led to cases of inequitable intervention, violent conservation methods, and strategies that tend to prioritize the needs of foreign tourists over the wellbeing of local populations and nonhuman animals. Although much has changed in conservation practices since the end of the colonial era in Africa, research has shown community members continue to feel marginalized from conservation efforts, excluded from the management of natural resources, and lack proper socio-economic compensation from wildlife management and tourism. Conservation research, policy, and practice have also predominantly regarded animals as members of larger populations of species and prioritized the preservation of biodiversity over the protection and care of individual animals, denying animals subjectivity and agency. While the existing body of social science research has focused on the negative impacts of wildlife conservation, it has also identified some promising changes in conservation theory and practice that has tried to be more inclusive of all parties involved, both human and nonhuman, including community conservation programs and compassionate conservation methods. In this paper, I will critically examine the existing body of social science research on ape conservation to interrogate the relationships among conservation actors, community members, and nonhuman animal primates, and examine how inequities are reproduced and/or disrupted. I will pay particular attention to race, gender, species, and colonialism and whether these inequities are addressed by conservationists.
Session I: Humans, Non-human Primates, and the Struggle for Coexistence: A Critical Examination of Great Ape Conservation in Central Africa
Africa is home to many of the world’s great ape species, including bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Unfortunately, all species are facing the threat of extinction resulting from human activity. In response, a host of conservation efforts have been implemented to protect great apes, including methods such as protected area management, education and capacity building programs for alternative livelihoods, and ecotourism. However, international conservation efforts have also led to cases of inequitable intervention, violent conservation methods, and strategies that tend to prioritize the needs of foreign tourists over the wellbeing of local populations and nonhuman animals. Although much has changed in conservation practices since the end of the colonial era in Africa, research has shown community members continue to feel marginalized from conservation efforts, excluded from the management of natural resources, and lack proper socio-economic compensation from wildlife management and tourism. Conservation research, policy, and practice have also predominantly regarded animals as members of larger populations of species and prioritized the preservation of biodiversity over the protection and care of individual animals, denying animals subjectivity and agency. While the existing body of social science research has focused on the negative impacts of wildlife conservation, it has also identified some promising changes in conservation theory and practice that has tried to be more inclusive of all parties involved, both human and nonhuman, including community conservation programs and compassionate conservation methods. In this paper, I will critically examine the existing body of social science research on ape conservation to interrogate the relationships among conservation actors, community members, and nonhuman animal primates, and examine how inequities are reproduced and/or disrupted. I will pay particular attention to race, gender, species, and colonialism and whether these inequities are addressed by conservationists.
