Abstract
Environmental resource management policies worldwide have long insisted on the need to involve local communities and their diverse ecological knowledges in management planning and decision-making. In SubSaharan post-colonial countries, however, formal resource management is still largely dominated by bureaucratic governance regimes that date back to colonial power structures and that rely mainly on professional or formal knowledge. In this study, we use a political ecology approach to analyze disputes over eucalyptus plantations in the Taita Hills, Kenya. The approach recognizes the plurality of socially constructed and powerladen perceptions of environmental resources. We found that local people regard eucalyptus plantations not only as a threat to local water resources but they also highlight historical injustices and the loss of control over, and cultural relationships to their land. Bureaucratic resource management institutions, however, support the planting of eucalyptus to meet national demands for commercial forestry. Management officials also plead a lack of "valid" evidence for the negative impacts of eucalyptus on local water resources, diverting attention away from the formal environmental governance system which has unequal sharing of benefits, unclear policies, and internal incoherence. Recognition of historically rooted asymmetries of knowledge and power provides a step towards social transformation, ending a long-standing reproduction of subalternity, and promoting environmental justice and pluralism in decision-making.Keywords: bureaucratic knowledge; environmental justice; eucalyptus; Kenya; knowledge asymmetries; local ecological knowledge; political ecology; resource management
Highlights
We used to have a source of a nice spring [...], and our drinking water since I was young used to come from there
We argue that the current professional discourse surrounding eucalyptus in the Taita Hills reproduces the subaltern position of the local people in environmental management, since it does not recognize their arguments about the negative impacts of eucalyptus as a legitimate knowledge basis for decision-making
The local community groups strongly voiced their concern over the negative impact of the eucalyptus trees on water resources and their contribution to the loss of indigenous forests and associated cultural values, which raised lively discussions
Summary
We used to have a source of a nice spring [...], and our drinking water since I was young used to come from there. This story, told by a chairman of a community-based water project, illustrates a common local observation of the declining water resources caused by the planting of exotic water-exigent eucalyptus trees in the Taita Hills, Kenya. It reflects uncertainty about the formal knowledge provided by the forest management authorities regarding the negative impacts of these trees on water resources. Forest officers often placate peoples' concerns over eucalyptus with ambiguous 'scientific' explanations that contradict lay experiences, leaving the community with a sense of frustration and the problem unresolved
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
