Communities, Livelihoods and Conservation in Diverse Landscapes: On the Front Lines of Conservation

Tropical ecosystems are home to a stunning array of plants and animals, and provide vital benefits including water provision, climate regulation, and carbon storage. They also provide direct life support for some of the planet’s most vulnerable human populations–some fighting for their very survival in lawless regions. The two social groups featured during this panel discussion were an indigenous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon protecting a huge tract of rainforest from illegal logging and gold mining, and pastoralists in the deserts of Mali taking control of resource management and countering poachers to protect a threatened elephant population.  In both cases, powerful outside forces threaten to destroy an ancient way of life and vital natural ecosystems.

These two large and long-term projects have many commonalities despite their different settings (African drylands and Amazonian forest) and cultures (pastoral people and indigenous people).  Both projects are succeeding in challenging circumstances. Thoughts on why this is the case were presented and discussed during this session.

Key Themes: 

Engagement, Education & Empowerment, Livelihoods, Places & Spaces, Conserved Areas

Authors:

Molly Bartlett (International Conservation Fund of Canada)

Barbara Zimmerman (International Conservation Fund of Canada and Environmental Defense Fund)

Susan Canney (Oxford University, Wild Foundation and International Conservation Fund of Canada)

Anne Lambert (International Conservation Fund of Canada)