Whale Conservation in Coastal Ecuador: Environmentalism of the Poor or Neoliberal Conservation?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In this paper, I examine the interaction between transnational activistnetworks, conservation scientists, government authorities, and artisanalfishing communities in coastal Ecuador. Focusing on the problem of cetaceanbycatch, I employ the concept of the “discourse of nature” to identifycontrasting languages of valuation used by the stakeholders for marine coastalenvironments. NGOs utilize a scientific evaluation to portray artisanal fishingas a hazard to the survival of humpback whales, but this coincides with theattempt by government and development agencies to portray artisanalfisheries as inefficient and ecologically harmful. In contrast, a survey I carriedout in a coastal fishing community shows that local residents contest thisportrayal of fishing as ecologically harmful, drawing upon their discourses oflivelihood, indigenous identity, territorial claims, and social marginality.
Focusing on the social conflict surrounding the marine protected area [MPA]of Machalilla National Park, I argue that additional restrictions on fishing tomitigate the incidence of cetacean bycatch will not have adequate socialacceptance by local artisan fishing communities. Hence, the language ofwhale conservation which appears to be a pro-poor environmentalism at themacro (international) level, appears to local actors as a threat to theirlivelihoods. To offset this micro/macro discrepancy, whale conservation NGOsshould support local aspirations to continue fishing as a livelihood, thereby restoring whale conservation to the status of “environmentalism of the poor”.

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