Abstract
It is now widely accepted that research about people and their interactions with wildlife provides unique and significant contributions that enhance our understanding of interspecies relationships in tropical forests. Studying human-nonhuman relationships involves not only the gaining of in-depth knowledge about local beliefs, values, and practices, but also the examination of the cosmopolitan identities of individuals as well as the impact of social and cultural processes of globalisation. Hence, it is imperative to explore the complexity of local communities living in protected areas. In this study, I consider the impact of community-based conservation (CBC) within Amazonianist societies and discuss how Western human-centred ideals of conservation can be made complementary to existing indigenous belief systems, sometimes resulting in unique and insightful outcomes. I present a case study showing how two Tikuna communities in the Colombian Amazon adopt transcultural beliefs and display innovation and resilience in the face of environmental and cultural change, and how these processes generate attitudes towards conservation initiatives and influence local livelihoods that are transformed by conservation efforts. I suggest that acknowledging indigenous populations as changing groups with dynamic, practical understandings of humans and nonhumans is a vital step towards identifying solutions to socioecological problems, where the needs of people and wildlife are met simultaneously.
Highlights
Over the past two decades, the relationship between biological and cultural diversity as well as the effects of global socioeconomic processes on traditional peoples and natural landscapes have received increased attention (Bennett et al 2017)
I consider the impact of community-based conservation (CBC) within Amazonianist societies and discuss how Western human-centred ideals of conservation can be made complementary to existing indigenous belief systems, sometimes resulting in unique and insightful outcomes
A number of people in Mocagua worked on long-term conservation projects, which influenced their views about biodiversity and conservation, with many people saying positive things about conservation and the benefits it provided
Summary
Over the past two decades, the relationship between biological and cultural diversity as well as the effects of global socioeconomic processes on traditional peoples and natural landscapes have received increased attention (Bennett et al 2017). It is widely accepted that research about people and their interactions with wildlife provides unique and significant contributions that enhance our understanding of interspecies relationships in tropical forests, and can be used to inform conservation policy (Parathian et al 2018) This in-depth knowledge of animals, plants, and ecological interactions is valuable when managing wildlife populations in remote locations inhabited by indigenous people and can in some cases increase biodiversity, such as Kayapo farming and forestry techniques in the Brazilian Amazon (Posey 1985) and artificial clam gardens or “loxiwey” built by Kwakwaka’wakw communities on the Northwest Coast of America (Deur et al 2015). This has been followed by increased advocacy for the involvement of local people and the development
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