international

International Issues

valuable to the animals and people for their livelihood
treats the native culture as a tourist attraction, almost as in a zoo
"untouched" by what? modern technology?
showed animals as violent more than peaceful--to show how wild it is
what a national park should be is not obvious but based on a particular history of ideas
the idea developed in the United States has been exported to other countries, partly because it is what tourists expect

The value put on the environment--what good we see in the natural environment--is not the same in different times and places:

values change over time and place
people have different priorities, different economic issues
different reasons for our actions
book focuses on how ideas about wilderness have changed over time: colonial times, mid-19th century (eg. Thoreau), around 1900 (eg. Forest Service, National Parks), modern environmental movement taking off around 1970
mentions different places--ideas about natural areas are different in Europe where there isn't really any wilderness left
wilderness is a very American idea
two divisions: older countries and newer countries, richer countries and poorer countries
what about differences between developed countries and developing nations?

do developing nations want to develop to be like the west
to what extent should they sacrifice their environment in order to get there
are environmental issues a luxury that only rich countries can afford to pay attention to

Different international questions (which can also be asked about different time periods):

-How the history of the use of the environment is different in different parts of the world
-Different attitudes to the environment
-we are in different places in the progression of developing environmental values but also there are are different paths
-The history of environmental movements--political action to save the environment

Wildness is valued only when scarce and when people aren't terribly poor
"As a rule, the nations that have wilderness do not want it, and those who want it do not have it."
rich people in urban areas are the primary advocates for wilderness in other countries and regions of their own country
preserving wilderness is a luxury
to get out of this trap environmental activists take the approach:
Developing nations have an incentive to preserve wild nature because it is a source of tourist income

book cover with Roosevelt and a dead rhinocerous

nature tourism is certainly not a new phenomenon

before the civil war, rich Europeans in the western U.S.
around 1900 rich Americans started going to Africa to hunt
took the idea of conservation there--wise use
a number of countries created game reserves

An international movement to preserve wilderness (or at least endangered species) was based on early European leadership and then the U.S. example

Several different international organizations were created
create national parks on the American model
"strict nature reserves"--only scientists could visit
but that only preserves small pieces
efforts to help endangered species by removing the incentives to kill them

regulate trade in trophies and parts of endangered animals
ban on the sale of ivory--if you can't import things made of ivory into the US or Europe that will help prevent the killing of elephants
in some cases it has not worked well, has created an illegal trade with very high prices

protecting endangered species is easier than protecting an ecosystem
show poor people that preserving the environment will benefit them by drawing tourists

How can rich countries encourage poor countries to protect their natural environment

trade regulations--whether for wood or endangered animals
encourage them to pass laws and set aside national parks
by trying to figure out how they can make money through tourism by protecting the environment
make money through incentives to protect the environment (eg. carbon cap and trade)
what will happen if other countries become as rich as the US--how to avoid that fairly

Nature tourism makes it profitable to preserve rather than develop natural areas
Example: the Galapagos

protection attracts tourists
area becomes comparatively rich and attracts more people
locals don't accept restrictions on fishing
Japanese offered a good price for sea cucumbers, overfishing upsets the balance of the ecosystem
governments are corrupt
no environment can be completely isolated and protected

Marine Iguanas, Galapagos (PEM photo)

How much are our ideas about the environment based on western (or rich country) values?
Can we think globally? To get beyond local politics--World Heritage List
The intersection between environmental issues (as we understand them) and local values is tricky
we are back to the issue of how to balance environmental preservation and human needs

This page written and copyright Pamela E. Mack

last updated 10/23/09
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