The legacy of colonialism in Marine conservation

Reflecting upon the need for decolonization of marine conservation in Africa 

by Laura Eppinga, November 2023,

Essay written for the course Researching Africa in the 21st Century, African Studies, Leiden University.

Introduction

Sometimes I question my life choices, wanting to go into the field of African marine conservation. The potentially devastating impact of climate change on the marine environment does not discourage me. Neither does the lack of interest in the society about ethically shady caught fish by European fishing vessels on the African coast. Yet, what does discourage me are the numerous human rights violations in nature conservation in Africa. This becomes quite clear when looking at the video below, which is one of many:

I do not want to be responsible for the distress experienced by this woman because of conservation measures. During my previous study, integrated coastal zone management, I was taught that equal balance between the economy, society, and nature was key for sustainable nature conservation. Only when looking at the video, this balance does not become apparent to me. I see economic benefits for large players in the conservation game and a lot of hurt for local communities who lose access to their ancestral homes, natural resources, and human rights. It makes me wonder, if I want to be connected to this type of nature conservation spread through Africa? To draft this essay, I conducted a little investigation to understand why nature conservation has become a battlefield. I realized a whole thesis could be written about this topic because of the complexity of the problem. Yet, since this is only a short essay, I will attempt to briefly introduce the issues surrounding nature conservation in Africa.

Figure 1. The people, Planet, and Profit diagram is seen as the method to create sustainable and equitable growth (Cook Inletkeeper, 2020).

Nature conservation and colonialism

Interestingly, the need for nature conservation was a product of the colonial era. Rapidly exploited nature, resulting in devastating nature degradation on colonized lands, created the need for conservation and ecosystem restoration. Before colonization, Indigenous peoples lived sustainably and in harmony with lands, waters, plants, and other animals for generations. These respectful interspecies relations were founded in Indigenous epistemologies (ways of knowing) and ontologies (ways of being) founded in Indigenous Value systems, spiritual practices, and cultures (Jacobs, Avery, Salonen, & Champagne, 2022). During colonization, new value systems were implemented in which nature was only seen as an economic resource to be exploited, and therefore, in need of conservation led by elite Europeans (Adams & Mulligan, 2003). The colonial policies created for conservation frameworks have evicted Indigenous peoples and rural communities from their land and access to resources. This practice is still visible today in the ban on hunting for small game for African communities, yet acceptance of trophy hunting for tourists (Kashwan, Duffy, Massé, Asiyanbi, & Marijnen, 2021).

Furthermore, non-African conservationists continue to support the popular yet harmful conservation method ‘fortress conservation,’ which aims to exclude local people from nature with fencing and armed guards. This type of conservation, widely implemented in Africa, has become intertwined with violent enforcement, such as shoot-on-sight and shoot-to-kill policies, and military-trained rangers. Despite the numerous human rights violations, fortress conservation is still widely accepted by major conservation NGOs in the ‘fight’ against poaching. Often, NGOs blame ‘rotten apples’ for human rights abuses instead of recognizing the systematic brutalities against Indigenous peoples. Despite significant critiques of the ongoing neocolonial approaches to conservation, the practices have widely stayed unchanged (Kashwan, Duffy, Massé, Asiyanbi, & Marijnen, 2021). Because of the top-down ideology, Indigenous peoples in Sub-Saharan Africa have systematically been ignored in colonial and post-colonial conservation management (Adams & Mulligan, 2003). Creating the need to overthrow the still-existing colonial barrier between humans and nature, in other words, to decolonize nature, to create nature and climate justice for Indigenous peoples (Adams & Mulligan, 2003).

What is decolonization?

Decolonization is a broad concept allowing former colonized peoples can rethink the pre-existing European and Global South ideas present in society. Decolonization allows a retelling of the history, humanity, and knowledge creation inclusive of all points of view, not limited to the existing Eurocentric and Global South concepts, as part of the previously accepted narration of science (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2018). Given the importance of decolonization and the current inequalities in African nature conservation, there are numerous debates on how to decolonize African nature. Only, the debates about colonial legacies in global conservation and the need for inclusion and social equity are more than 50 years old and have not yet resulted in meaningful change in policies, programs, or practices. Mainly because conservationists need to recognize that ‘locking nature away from humans will not prevent the sixth mass extinction‘ since the root causes of biodiverse degradation are systematically ignored or overlooked. Furthermore, efforts to make conservation management more inclusive go unnoticed because the world’s most powerful and wealthiest actors and agencies in conservation have created a global conservation industry that has become a very profitable neocolonial enterprise (Kashwan, Duffy, Massé, Asiyanbi, & Marijnen, 2021).

Despite these obstacles, there still is a significant need for decolonization, making me wonder about the current state of marine conservation in Africa. Creating the motivation to draft this essay, as a personal investigation into the decolonization of marine science. This essay is not as argumentative as it is an exploration of the legacy of colonialism still visible in marine conservation in Africa. Through drafting this article, I aimed to learn more about decolonization, the need for decolonization of marine sciences, and methods to do so. Additionally, also look at theories against decolonization and their influence on the issues present in conservation to help form my position within the debate. The essay will end with my thoughts on how this newly gained knowledge will influence my future career in marine conservation.

Decolonization of marine sciences

Historically, marine conservation has been a product of colonial regimes and their violence against marine life and Indigenous peoples, similar to terrestrial conservation. Currently, marine conservation is still executed through this neocolonial lens of aiming to restore marine ecosystems to a natural state of existence, without human discrepancies. Only, this ideology inherently violates the rights of Indigenous peoples and coastal communities. To date, Indigenous communities are pushed into stakeholder positions, not functioning at the same level of agency as park authorities and governmental units. Indigenous communities are rarely given co-management or sole management over their marine homes (Jacobs, Avery, Salonen, & Champagne, 2022). Given this, many scholars and practitioners fear marine conservation might take the same route as terrestrial conservation in adopting the violent fortress conservation, effectively rendering marine conservation as a new form of neocolonial ‘ocean grabbing’ (Bennett, et al., 2017).

Ways to decolonize marine science

At the moment, Indigenous, Black, Brown, and Southern scholars are actively trying to decolonize the Eurocentric knowledge creation in the fields of Marine sciences. Decolonization is incredibly important because Indigenous, Black, Brown, and Southern scholars are mostly excluded from influential academic circles and policymakers in Marine Science. Through their resistance to the current Eurocentric knowledge creation, racial injustice can be undone and new diverse policies that privilege local communities can be created.

One main requirement for decolonization is the acknowledgment of interdependence and shared responsibilities that value the ocean kinship of Indigenous communities rather than Western colonial ideologies. Allowing Ocean Kinship into marine science will result in positive collaborations with the ocean (instead of against the water), and nourish ocean optimism and collective ocean stewardship. Additionally, the dependence of marine governance on published English literature (rather than multilingual literature) creates absent bodies and spaces in ocean ontologies. Resulting in the loss of Indigenous and local knowledge, rendering it necessary for scholars to open up to inclusive knowledge creation, philosophies, and memories to enable collective responsibility in conservation (Lobo & Parsons, 2023). The marine science community should normalize and encourage equal collaboration between Indigenous, and non-Indigenous peoples and scholars to work together and deliver meaningful conservation efforts to help marine ecosystems which are continuously harmed by neocolonial practices (Jacobs, Avery, Salonen, & Champagne, 2022). Furthermore, Indigenous, and local communities need to be allowed into conservation and be given the agency to shape their future (Kashwan, Duffy, Massé, Asiyanbi, & Marijnen, 2021). Decolonized marine governance should include equity-based co-managed marine areas that allow Indigenous communities with respect, authority, and rights to re-engage in their traditional practices and reestablish their sustainable relationship with marine ecosystems (Jacobs, Avery, Salonen, & Champagne, 2022). Indigenous-led conservation management must include utilizing, managing, and rebuilding ecosystems through indigenous decision-making, rights, and leadership. Decolonization is important to better understand and respect Indigenous peoples who aim to use and manage marine resources in ways differing from Western (neocolonial) norms (von der Porten, Ota, Cisneros-Montemayor, & Pictou, 2019).

Taiwo’s argument against decolonization

Another interesting theory to think about when talking about decolonization in Africa is Olufemi Taiwo theory against decolonization, explained in this book called ‘against decolonization: taking African agency seriously.’ In this book, Taiwo argues that decolonization should not be expanded beyond its original purpose of liberating African countries from colonial regimes to become independent. In his eyes, decolonization has been applied to any field that shares connections with colonization without actually considering the African agency in the matter (Taiwo, 2023). While it is hard to explain Taiwo’s well-thought-out theory in a few sentences, after reading his book, I doubt if Taiwo would say marine conservation needs to be decolonized. While marine conservation has roots in colonial times, the way marine conservation is currently managed has been a product of each country’s independence. For example, all six of Kenya’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were established between 1968 and 1993 (Tuda & Thoy, 2021), which was at least 5 years after Kenya gained flag independence in 1963. Therefore, in Taiwo’s argument, the establishment, and management of the MPA’s is a Kenyan decision, making the inequalities persisting in marine conservation a product of the post-independent governments, instead of a decolonial issue. This argument could be supported by academic literature which explains the main problem in marine conservation to be the lack of consideration of short-term and long-term social equity and inclusion (Bennett, Navigating a just and inclusive path towards sustainable oceans, 2018). Through this lens, the key issues plaguing marine conservation are due to social inequalities and lack of inclusion instead of decolonization.

My reflection on the decolonization of marine conservation

When reflecting upon the field of marine conservation, after reading multiple articles displaying the legacy of colonization on conservation, I can see why scholars argue for the decolonization of nature. Though Taiwo’s book and theory about decolonization and African agency are fascinating, I find it hard to incorporate these thoughts into marine conservation. Mostly, because how the need for decolonization is explained seems very local to me and creates an easy framework to tackle the social injustices present in marine conservation. For me, most importantly, the debate about the decolonization of conservation highlights continuous social inequality and exclusion present in marine conservation and beyond. Although it can be argued if these issues are caused by a lack of decolonization or not, given Taiwo’s arguments against decolonization, these issues need to be eliminated to practice marine conservation ethically. This is important for me personally, mostly because of my upbringing in the Netherlands, where the national value and norm is for nature to be free to enjoy for all. In the Netherlands, 270,000 ha of nature is managed by Staatsbosbeheer (the environmental protection organ of the Dutch Government), and 95% is open for public access and usage by citizens of the Netherlands (Staatsbosbeheer, 2023). This value, of nature being open to public usage and recreation, is one I hope to promote in my future career. Especially, when looking at the current exclusion of Indigenous and local communities of their natural resources. I cannot imagine living in the Netherlands and being denied access to nature, and therefore, I do not want to promote this type of harmful management anywhere else. Given this, I hope to remember my new-found knowledge in my future career, by incorporating the advice to decolonize the field and focusing on working with socially conscious programs and projects.

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