Factoring Humans into the Environmental Picture
Instead of Seeing Local People as Poachers or Polluters,
Social Scientist Lisa Campbell Views Them as Part of the Landscape
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Nesting in Arribada is rare, and most sea turtles
nest solitarily. So not all turtle nesting beaches can support
this type of extensive egg harvesting, biologically or economically.
However, Campbell’s concern for the impacts of conservation
on communities is not restricted to consumptive use programs.
She and her graduate students also are looking at other turtle
nesting beaches experiencing ecotourism, and find that, in
many cases, the theoretical benefits are elusive. “If you
just look at the bottom line then, yes, ecotourism generates
income. If you broaden your perspective to consider distribution
of profits, and environmental and social impacts, the picture
becomes more complicated.” Campbell thinks that some of the
lessons learned from Ostional, for example regarding community
control and involvement in conservation, can be applied at
other sites regardless of the type of conservation being undertaken.
Overall, however, she argues that there is no best way to
conserve turtles, and that programs should be considered on
a case-by-case basis. And in some cases, consumptive use may
be supportable.
Still, the concept allowing the “use” of wildlife
as a conservation method rankles some environmentalists, especially
when it comes to consumptive use. Biologists consider six
of the worlds seven species of sea turtles endangered and
uncontrolled turtle fishing, and egg harvests are accelerating
that trend. Last year, Campbell and three colleagues organized
a session on research into the use of sea turtles at a symposium
on turtle biology and conservation. “Whether we wish to eliminate
it, manage it, or promote it, we first need to understand
it, like any other aspect of sea turtle conservation,” they
wrote in a report on the session.
The reaction of participants ranged from support
for opening the discussion to disappointment that the topic
was included in a conservation forum. So while many conservationists
can live with tourists visiting protected beaches, the consumptive
use of turtles is a much move divisive concept. Campbell describes
the Marine Turtle Specialist Group, a loose network of about
200 scientists worldwide, as “unenthusiastic” about consumptive
use. Her own interviews with scientists interested in turtle
biology and conservation found they had more diverse opinions
on the approach, with some agreeing that consumptive use of
turtles can be a conservation tool.
Campbell can take some of the credit for shifting
that balance because her work in Ostional convinced some skeptics
that consumptive use can work in very carefully controlled
scenarios.
“As is the case with all of us who bridge the
gap between the biological and social sciences, Campbell’s
work is controversial,” says Nat B. Frazer, chair of the Department
of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of
Florida in Gainesville. He helped established the Wider Caribbean
Sea Turtle Conservation Network or WIDECAST, which brings
scientists, conservationists, enforcement officers, policymakers,
fishermen and teachers together to plan turtle protection
programs.
“By challenging the ‘conventional wisdom’ with sound
research, clear thinking and a strong sense of ethics, Campbell
is emerging as one of the most important voices influencing
the future conservation of sea turtles and other natural resources.”
And that voice is calling on biologists to take
the social science elements of their work more seriously.
Development groups increasingly incorporate environmental
rhetoric into their policies, and conservation organizations
now consider the needs of local people. But in order to make
these efforts work, the social science used to plan them needs
to be more than an afterthought, Campbell says.
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