Unit 2 Flashcards
Ecology (or tropical ecological science)
the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.
Sustainable development
Economic development that is conducted without depletion
of natural resources. Describes policies, projects and investments that provide benefits today without sacrificing environmental, social and personal health in the future. UN definition: “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Was formulated and elaborated in a series of documents: The World Conservation Strategy (UICN WCS), Our Common Future (Brundtland), Caring for the Earth (UICN).
Tropical romantic environmentalism
how landscape found by colons described as abundant forest, idealized landscape, pristine nature, western imagination, nature = absence of human impact. European fascination with tropical paradises. Structure of colonial rule enabled Europeans to impose their own visions of tropical nature onto colonized landscapes with little regard for the views of indigenous communities. The exclusionist models of conservation that developed shaped wildlife protection. Ecology utilitarian tone, knowledge in service of colonial interest.
World Conservation Strategy WCS
Document developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to provide a framework for conservation efforts worldwide. The three main objectives of the WCS are: (1) to maintain essential ecological processes and life-support systems on which human survival and development depend. (2) to preserve genetic diversity. (3) to ensure the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems which support millions of rural communities as well as major industries. Actions: establishing and managing protected areas.
International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN
Organization dedicated to the conservation of nature and sustainable use of natural resources. Objectives are to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
Fortress conservation
Conservation model based on the belief that biodiversity protection is best achieved by creating protected areas where ecosystems can function in isolation from human disturbance. Humans only damage nature, protective areas harms local populations, doesn’t allow people to use the resources.
Green and land grabbing
Expropriation of land or resources for environmental purposes. Carving out physical territories as protected areas, privatizing rights to nature, creating new commodities from it and establishing the markets for the exchange of these rights and commodities.
Trusteeship
The intent which is expressed, by one source of agency, to develop the capacities of another. Main goal of trusteeship not to dominate others but it is to enhance their capacity for action, and to direct it.
Governmentality
Takes the definition of government as the exercise of organized political power by a nation or state and expands it to include the active consent and willingness of individuals to participate in their own governance. The organized practices (mentalities, rationalities, and techniques) through which subjects are governed. To govern, in this sense, is to control the possible field of action of others.
Participatory Rural Appraisal PRA
Describes a set of approaches and methods to enable local people to share, enhance and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act. Aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people in the planning and management of development projects.
Ecological managerialism
Ecological training, notably in the USA and in Britain, has incorporated a particular set of cultural assumptions about the purpose of ecology, by which managerial concepts of objectivity, rationality, and utility have been skewed towards endorsement of capitalist norms. This gives ecological management the qualities of government, nature loses its transcendental qualities and its resources, and systems become objects of capitalist manipulation.
Anthropocene
Period (or epoch) in geological time in which the effects of human activities have altered the fundamental geochemical cycles of the earth as a result of converting forests into fields and pastures and burning oil, gas, and coal on a large scale.
Programming
To frame problems in terms amenable to technical solutions
Rendering technical
Calculation is central, because government requires that the ‘‘right manner’’ be defined, distinct ‘‘finalities’’ prioritized, and tactics finely tuned to achieve optimal results.
