Politicized Wilderness: Local Community-Wildlife Interaction in the Era of Globalization

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  • 政治化された「野生」──地域社会はグローバル化した野生動物といかにかかわれるか──
  • 政治化された「野生」 : 地域社会はグローバル化した野生動物といかにかかわれるか
  • セイジカ サレタ 「 ヤセイ 」 : チイキ シャカイ ワ グローバルカ シタ ヤセイ ドウブツ ト イカニ カカワレル カ

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Abstract

<p>This paper examines how globalization impacts on local community-wildlife interaction, and looks towards the future relationship between local communities and wildlife. To this end, a case study of the African elephant, a symbol of Africa's ecosystem, and the Ikoma community, situated adjacent to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, a community deeply involved with elephants, is presented. The paper demonstrates hunting activities, which are the basis of Ikoma community-wildlife interaction, are in decline due to the influence of international conservation policies made stricter in response to the decrease of the African elephant population in the 1980s. Furthermore, it is evident that the “holistic interaction" with diverse wildlife species in the Ikoma community has been diluted. However, since the 2000s, the successful implementation of conservation policies has meant the number of African elephants has increased and consequently the damage caused by elephants to the Ikoma community has become more extensive. This situation demonstrates the Tanzania government, international NGOs and tourism companies promote conservation of red listed species and global ecosystem services, which represent global wildlife values whilst on the other hand, the local wildlife values of the Ikoma community, such as their hunting culture and use of bushmeat as food, are denied. However, from a comparison of the hunter-gatherer societies of three other communities (Pigmies in the central Africa; Bushmen in Botswana; Inuit in Canada), it is probable that a residents' movement will evolve in the Ikoma community, seeking land rights and the right to make their own decisions on how to live with wildlife.</p>

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