by Kimberly Maria Newton-Klootwyk
I was pleased that even the Nature Conservancy is realizing that true sustainability and conservation must include a deep integration of the social and economic dynamics surrounding remaining forest areas and that conservation must allow for reasonable land use extraction practices by local stakeholders needing to feed their families in their homeland. People are not the enemy, but they are certainly the main factor damaging our shared ecosystems (oftentimes because of destructive extraction practices taught by U.S. and European transnationals during the first "Green Revolution"). People represent the Social Pillar and should not be shoved aside, displaced or otherwise ignored because that will only come back to haunt us in ways we cannot imagine - including mass environmental degradation.
Economic sustainability is also an important part of the equation, called the Economic Pillar of the Sustainability equation (People, Planet, Profits or Triple Bottom Line). The case of the Indonesian project where The Nature Conservancy participated in advancing peace by helping broker sustainable use of the forest by loggers and local villagers is a great example of the type of triple bottom line approach I and fellow Latin eco-warriors have been calling for for years (read "The Bigger Picture - Socially Responsible Conservation") I am convinced that only through "Bigger Picture Conservation" or "Triple Bottom Line Conservation" will we have true conservation over the long term, especially in "developing" areas of the world.
I have hope when I see the Nature Conservancy, known historically for displacing local communities, changing their course and adopting a triple bottom line approach to their conservation projects. They call it "pathbreaking" - I call it "finally!"
Local conservation and ecological organizations in Latin America have been using this socially integrated approach to conservation for decades and weaving the issue of peace with environmental sustainability (to us it is an obvious reality we live almost daily). Too bad Latin social justice workers and environmentalists have not been able to access the stakeholders that give the most funding for conservation - such as the U.S. environmentalist, thus their voices have been largely unheard.
This is in part why I felt the need to create Instituto Conexiones - I thought it would be good to create an organization that could serve as a cultural liaison and communications outlet in order to bring to the U.S. donor and sustainably minded investor the voices and ideas of the rainforest communities - local entrepreneurs and leaders tend to have realistic and culturally integrated ideas on how to go about 'saving the rainforest' in ways that help the society achieve economic growth and peace and justice too (Central Americans, like me, are particularly vested in the idea of maintaining and advancing peace and social justice due to witnessing the catastrophic environmental, economic and social impacts of revolution and war).
Sounds like others out there are starting to get to the decision makers at the Nature Conservancy and similar organizations - I'm so glad because now I feel there is a realistic chance at actually conserving our last remaining wild places and saving species from becoming extinct. And I have more hope than ever that the good intentions of foreign conservationists in Latin America and other developing countries will continue to be more aligned with social and economic on-the-ground realities, which means that there is real hope for many families to stay together, and indigenous and peasants the world over will suffer less from displacement and disenfranchisement. I have always recognized the U.S. Environmentalist as a key ally - so long as they listen and integrate the local voices in their methodology.
I hope to see more stories like this one on the conservation wires. Please send me any others you know about to add to this blog and our educational archives. We are looking to showcase positive case studies where foreign environmentalists and/or greenpreneurs merge and collaborate in an equitable and positive way with the local people and help support (rather than replace) existing local green initiatives.
