Green Fantasies: Photographic representations of biodiversity and ecotourism in the Western Pacific

Martha Macintyre,Simon Foale

doi:10.2458/v12i1.21671

Martha Macintyre, Simon Foale

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2458/v12i1.21671

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Abstract

[Extract] In his groundbreaking book European Vision and the South Pacific (1959:viii), Bernard Smith proposed that “…in the century preceding the publication of The Origin of Species (1859) the Pacific provided a challenging new experience for Europeans, one which placed unprecedented pressure upon biblical creation theory and provided a wealth of new evidence out of which was fashioned eventually the first scientifically credible theory of evolution”. The scientific observations, and especially the drawings and paintings undertaken by botanists, natural historians and artists who went on exploratory expeditions, generated debate, speculation and scientific theories that are now the basis for contemporary interest in the South Pacific environment – notably the observation, classification and conservation of its biodiversity.

Highlights

In his groundbreaking book European Vision and the South Pacific (1959:viii), Bernard Smith proposed that “...in the century preceding the publication of The Origin of Species (1859) the Pacific provided a challenging new experience for Europeans, one which placed unprecedented pressure upon biblical creation theory and provided a wealth of new evidence out of which was fashioned eventually the first scientifically credible theory of evolution”
The scientific observations, and especially the drawings and paintings undertaken by botanists, natural historians and artists who went on exploratory expeditions, generated debate, speculation and scientific theories that are the basis for contemporary interest in the South Pacific environment – notably the observation, classification and conservation of its biodiversity
Before discussing the images we look first at the two core scientific ideas underpinning the ideology of biodiversity conservation, and how these are perceived by the custodians of that biodiversity in the Southwest Pacific: 1. The first tenet of the biodiversity conservation ideology concerns the interconnectedness of species, and the importance of these interconnections to ecosystem productivity

Summary

Introduction

In his groundbreaking book European Vision and the South Pacific (1959:viii), Bernard Smith proposed that “...in the century preceding the publication of The Origin of Species (1859) the Pacific provided a challenging new experience for Europeans, one which placed unprecedented pressure upon biblical creation theory and provided a wealth of new evidence out of which was fashioned eventually the first scientifically credible theory of evolution”. Smith argued that the artists who attempted to capture the strange exotic beauty of Pacific landscapes, flora, fauna and natural phenomena were consistently inspired, and constrained by their peculiarly European vision He demonstrated the ways that artistic genres and cultural values imbued the paintings, drawings and sketches that Europeans brought back from their voyages while simultaneously shaping and distorting the world that they encountered. Crucial to this was what Henrietta Kuklick has characterised as a ‘...conventional European view’ of the subjects of anthropological study as ... We argue that the use of these images to publicise ecotourism perpetuates a view of the Southwest Pacific as a site of Western consumption, excluding many of the harsh realities of life for local inhabitants and mystifying their relationship to, and understandings of their natural environment

The scientific and cultural importance of Pacific biodiversity

Picturing Pristineness

Ecotourism and the European Vision

Indigenous people – Malthusian Menace or Ecological Nobility?

Conclusion