The links below provide an outline of the material for this lesson. Be sure to carefully read through the entire lesson before returning to Canvas to submit your assignments.
This week, we explore the challenges and opportunities for conserving and restoring wildlife populations and habitats in a humanized world. As you can imagine, there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution. Each region and human community has its own unique set of circumstances, which is what makes these efforts so challenging, but also so important to study.
The debate over how to sustain human livelihoods alongside healthy and diverse ecosystems is ongoing, and now is your chance to enter into the conversation. I hope that the readings for the week help spark your curiosity and lead you to insights about our complex relationship to other human and nonhuman communities. The more people thinking about how to deal with these challenging issues, the better!
At the end of this week, you should be able to:
Let's dive in!
Dr. Brian King [2] is a geographer in our very own Geography Department here at Penn State, and his research focuses on human-environment relationships and political struggles in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region of the continent that has been a site of intense conservation efforts since the colonial era. In this article, he reviews the history of national parks and community conservation and explores the consequences of different models of conservation on local human and non-human communities.
As you read and reflect, consider these questions:
Registered students can access the reading in Canvas.
Roderick Neumann [3] is a professor of Geography and Chair of the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies at Florida International University. His research investigates how our conceptions of nature shape the landscape and on the conflict and violence associated with conservation areas in Africa. Since the 1980s, several African governments have responded to declining wildlife populations by issuing shoot-on-sight orders for ‘‘poachers’’ found within national parks. Neumann argues that biodiversity is being used to justify violence and human rights abuses.
As you read and reflect, consider the following questions:
Registered students can access the reading in Canvas.
The massive changes in wildlife populations and forests during the past century have spawned countless efforts at conservation and restoration, and "Milking the Rhino" explores the challenges faced by such efforts in two different regions in Africa.
One of the significant transitions in wildlife conservation in recent decades has been a shift from "fortress conservation," which excludes local communities, to methods called "community-based conservation" or "integrated conservation and development projects," which try to include local residents in the design and implementation of wildlife protection.
As the film reveals, while these new integrated projects try to avoid the social and economic problems caused by earlier conservation efforts, they don't always find success.
This film provides a huge range of food-for-thought, and a few questions you might consider include:
Did this week's materials make you want to go on an African safari, or to avoid doing so at all costs? Can't wait to read your thoughts! Here are your assignments:
All assignments will be submitted in Canvas, check the calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.
Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/348
[2] http://www.geog.psu.edu/people/king-brian
[3] https://gss.fiu.edu/people/faculty/roderick-neumann/
[4] http://alias.libraries.psu.edu/eresources/proxy/login?url=http://www.docuseek2.com/v/a/gt6
[5] http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://www.docuseek2.com/v/a/gt6
[6] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/315