Meanings of Conservation in Zapotec Communities of Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

In the last decade, implementation of the conservation policy of Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) as a tool for biodiversity conservation has attracted worldwide attention. In Mexico, this policy was launched as a programme called Voluntary Designated Areas for Conservation (VDAC). However, the indigenous Zapotec and mestizo people who embraced the programme do not fully understand its profound implications for their traditional livelihoods. This study aims to document and discuss the significance of conservation for the communities of the Zapotec indigenous region of Oaxaca, Mexico, with VDAC established in their territories. The research was conducted adopting a theoretical approach from Cultural anthropology and Conservation biology. We used a case study-based methodology in which qualitative data were collected through semi-structured and in-depth interviews with local decision-makers in their territories, as well as through participant observation. The results indicate that conservation is a new word for the Zapotec, implying for them a different space to the local spaces where social and cultural relationships of the community occur; it is exclusionary since conservation prohibits the traditional use of the certified areas (VDAC). Moreover, our study recorded local words in the indigenous language similar to conservation, which refer to an integral cycle of “to care-to have-to use”. The latter is related to the local traditions and worldviews: in this case, “to have” is seen as a responsibility, since use of the territory is primarily collective.