Thursday, September 02, 2021

Indigenous and local communities key to successful nature conservation

UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Indigenous Peoples and local communities provide the best long-term outcomes for conservation, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and partners in France.

Lead author, Dr Neil Dawson of UEA’s School of International Development, was part of an international team conducting a systematic review that found conservation success is “the exception rather than the rule”.

But the study, published today in the journal Ecology and Society, suggests the answer could be equitable conservation, which empowers and supports the environmental stewardship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

The research team studied the outcomes of 169 conservation projects around the world – primarily across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

From restoring national forests in Taiwan and community gardens in Nepal, to watershed restoration in the Congo, sustainable fisheries in Norway, game management in Zambia, and preserving wetlands in Ghana – the team took into account a range of projects.

They investigated how governance - the arrangements and decision making behind conservation efforts - affects both nature and the well-being of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

The work, which is part of the JustConservation research project funded by the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB) within its Centre for Biodiversity Synthesis and Analysis (CESAB), and was initiated through the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (IUCN CEESP).

It is the result of collaboration between 17 scientists, including researchers from the European School of Political and Social Sciences (ESPOL) at the Catholic University of Lille and UEA.

Dr Dawson, a Research Fellow, examines poverty, wellbeing and environmental justice among rural populations, particularly poor and marginalised social and ethnic groups, and is a Steering Committee member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (IUCN CEESP).

Dr Dawson said: “This study shows it is time to focus on who conserves nature and how, instead of what percentage of the Earth to fence off.”

“Conservation led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities, based on their own knowledge and tenure systems, is far more likely to deliver positive outcomes for nature. In fact, conservation very often fails because it excludes and undervalues local knowledge and this often infringes on rights and cultural diversity along the way.”

International conservation organisations and governments often lead the charge on conservation projects, excluding or controlling local practices, most prominently through strict protected areas.

The study recommends Indigenous Peoples and local communities need to be at the helm of conservation efforts, with appropriate support from outside, including policies and laws that recognise their knowledge systems.”

Furthermore, it is imperative to shift to this approach without delay, Dr Dawson said.

“Current policy negotiations, especially the forthcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits, must embrace and be accountable for ensuring the central role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in mainstream climate and conservation programs. Otherwise, they will likely set in stone another decade of well-meaning practices that result in both ecological decline and social harms.

“Whether for tiger reserves in India, coastal communities in Brazil or wildflower meadows in the UK, the evidence shows that the same basis for successful conservation through stewardship holds true. Currently, this is not the way mainstream conservation efforts work.”

From an initial pool of over 3,000 publications, 169 were found to provide detailed evidence of both the social and ecological sides of conservation.

Strikingly, the authors found that 56 per cent of the studies investigating conservation under 'local' control reported positive outcomes for both human well-being and conservation.

For 'externally' controlled conservation, only 16 per cent reported positive outcomes and more than a third of cases resulted in ineffective conservation and negative social outcomes, in large part due to the conflicts arising with local communities.

However, simply granting control to local communities does not automatically guarantee conservation success.

Local institutions are every bit as complex as the ecosystems they govern, and this review highlights that a number of factors must align to realise successful stewardship.

Community cohesion, shared knowledge and values, social inclusion, effective leadership and legitimate authority are important ingredients that are often disrupted through processes of globalisation, modernisation or insecurity, and can take many years to re-establish.

Additionally, factors beyond the local community can greatly impede local stewardship, such as laws and policies that discriminate against local customs and systems in favour of commercial activities. Moving towards more equitable and effective conservation can therefore be seen as a continuous and collaborative process.

Dr Dawson said: “Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ knowledge systems and actions are the main resource that can generate successful conservation. To try to override them is counterproductive, but it continues, and the current international policy negotiations and resulting pledges to greatly increase the global area of land and sea set aside for conservation are neglecting this key point.

“Conservation strategies need to change, to recognize that the most important factor in achieving positive conservation outcomes is not the level of restrictions or magnitude of benefits provided to local communities, but rather recognising local cultural practices and decision-making. It is imperative to shift now towards an era of conservation through stewardship.”

‘The role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation’ is published in the journal Ecology and Society on September 2, 2021.

JOURNAL

Ecology and Society

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Systematic review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

The role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in effective and equitable conservation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

31-Aug-2021

New evidence supports idea that America’s first civilization was made up of ‘sophisticated’ engineers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS

Poverty Point Illustration — IMAGE: THE ILLUSTRATION ABOVE SHOWS THE CORE FEATURES OF THE POVERTY POINT SITE IN NORTHERN LOUISIANA. THE GREEN TO THE RIGHT IS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOOD PLAIN. THE ORANGE IS MACON RIDGE, THE HIGHER GROUND ON WHICH THE SITE IS LOCATED. SIX C-SHAPED RIDGES ARE VISIBLE AT THE SITE. PARTS OF THE RIDGES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED BY HISTORIC AND MODERN ACTIVITIES. THE PATTERN SOUTH OF MOUND E IS THE RESULT OF FARM ACTIVITY. MANY OF THE LOW AREAS AROUND THE SITE – LIGHTER YELLOW – ARE THOUGHT TO BE PLACES WHERE SOIL WAS MINED TO MAKE RIDGES AND MOUNDS. 1 OF 3 THE ILLUSTRATION ABOVE SHOWS THE CORE FEATURES OF THE POVERTY POINT SITE IN NORTHERN LOUISIANA. THE GREEN TO THE RIGHT IS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOOD PLAIN. THE ORANGE IS MACON RIDGE, THE HIGHER GROUND ON WHICH THE SITE IS LOCATED. SIX C-SHAPED RIDGES ARE VISIBLE AT THE SITE. PARTS OF THE RIDGES HAVE BEEN DAMAGED BY HISTORIC AND MODERN ACTIVITIES. THE PATTERN SOUTH OF MOUND E IS THE RESULT OF FARM ACTIVITY. MANY OF THE LOW AREAS AROUND THE SITE – LIGHTER YELLOW – ARE THOUGHT TO BE PLACES WHERE SOIL WAS MINED TO MAKE RIDGES AND MOUNDS. view more
CREDIT: T.R. KIDDER

The Native Americans who occupied the area known as Poverty Point in northern Louisiana more than 3,000 years ago long have been believed to be simple hunters and gatherers. But new Washington University in St. Louis archaeological findings paint a drastically different picture of America’s first civilization.

Far from the simplicity of life sometimes portrayed in anthropology books, these early Indigenous people were highly skilled engineers capable of building massive earthen structures in a matter of months — possibly even weeks — that withstood the test of times, the findings show.

“We as a research community – and population as a whole – have undervalued native people and their ability to do this work and to do it quickly in the ways they did,” said Tristram R. “T.R.” Kidder, lead author and the Edward S. and Tedi Macias Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences.

“One of the most remarkable things is that these earthworks have held together for more than 3,000 years with no failure or major erosion. By comparison, modern bridges, highways and dams fail with amazing regularity because building things out of dirt is more complicated than you would think. They really were incredible engineers with very sophisticated technical knowledge.”

The findings were published in Southeastern Archaeology on September, 1, 2021. Washington University’s Kai Su, Seth B. Grooms, along with graduates Edward R. Henry (Colorado State) and Kelly Ervin (USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) also contributed to the paper.

The Poverty Point World Heritage site consists of a massive 72-foot-tall earthen mound and concentric half circle ridges. The structures were constructed by hunter-gatherers approximately 3,400 years ago from nearly 2 million cubic yards of soil. Amazingly, this was done without the luxury of modern tools, domesticated animals or even wheeled carts.

According to Kidder, the site was likely an important religious site where Native Americans came in pilgrimage, similar to Mecca. It was abandoned abruptly between 3,000-3,200 years ago – most likely due to documented flooding in the Mississippi Valley and climate change.

The ridges at Poverty Point contain vast amounts of artifacts around the edges and within, suggesting that people lived there. Kidder and team re-excavated and re-evaluated a site on Ridge West 3 at the Poverty Point Site that was originally excavated by renowned archaeologist Jon Gibson in 1991.

Using modern research methods including radiocarbon dating, microscopic analysis of soils and magnetic measurements of soils, the research provides conclusive evidence that the earthworks were built rapidly. Essentially, there is no evidence of boundaries or signs of weathering between the various levels, which would have occurred if there was even a brief pause in construction. Kidder believes the construction was completed in lifts, or layers of sediment deposited to increase the ridge height and linear dimensions before another layer was placed to expand the footprint vertically and horizontally.

Why does that matter? According to Kidder, the findings challenge previous beliefs about how pre-modern hunters and gatherers behaved. Building the enormous mounds and ridges at Poverty Point would have required a large labor pool that was well organized and would have required leadership to execute. Hunters and gathers were believed to shun politics.

“Between the speed of the excavation and construction, and the quantity of earth being moved, these data show us native people coming to the site and working in concert. This in and of itself is remarkable because hunter-gatherers aren’t supposed to be able to do these activities,” Kidder said.

What’s even more impressive than how quickly the people built the earthen structures is the fact that they’re still intact. Due to its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, this area receives immense amounts of rain that makes earthworks especially prone to erosion. Microscopic analysis of soils shows that the Native Americans mixed different types of soil — clays, silts and sand — in a calculated recipe to make the structures stronger.

“Similar to the Roman concrete or rammed earth in China, Native Americans discovered sophisticated ways of mixing different types of materials to make them virtually indestructible, despite not being compacted. There’s some magic there that our modern engineers have not been able to figure out yet,” Kidder said.

CAPTION

An excavation before sampling. Note the color changes between layers. The darker layers have carbon-rich deposits made by humans, such as midden or garbage that was scraped up and dumped to form the ridge structure during construction. There is little organic garbage in the upper third section.

CREDIT

T.R. Kidder