What does it mean to be for a Place?
Stephanie B. Borrelle
A B O * , Jonathan B. Koch A C * , Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie A D , Kurt E. Ingeman A E , Bonnie M. McGill A F , Max R. Lambert A G , Anat M. Belasen A H , Joan Dudney A I , Charlotte H. Chang A J , Amy K. Teffer A K L and Grace C. Wu A M N
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A David H. Smith Conservation Research Program, Society for Conservation Biology, Washington, DC, USA.
B Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, St George, Ontario, Canada.
C Tropical Conservation Biology & Environmental Science, University of Hawai’i, Hilo, HI, USA.
D Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA.
E Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
F Anthropocene Science Section, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
G Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
H Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
I Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
J Department of Biology and Environmental Analysis Program, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, USA.
K Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA.
L Conte Anadromous Fish Research Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Turners Falls, MA, USA.
M The Nature Conservancy, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
N The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
O Corresponding author. Email: stephborrelle@gmail.com
Pacific Conservation Biology 27(4) 354-361 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC20015
Submitted: 6 February 2020 Accepted: 24 August 2020 Published: 6 November 2020
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2021 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Indigenous knowledge is a multilayered knowledge system that can effectively manage global ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. Conservation is an applied discipline with the goal of preserving the world’s biodiversity and ecosystems. However, settler–coloniser conservation practices often fail to fully examine how settler–coloniser epistemologies are centred at the expense of Indigenous conservation praxis. Evaluating how conservation practices outside of an Indigenous lens can become more inclusive and just is a critical area for research and reflection. We draw on our own experiences as early-career researchers working towards anticolonial, just and inclusive approaches to conservation science and practice by discussing what it means to be for a Place. We believe that a non-Indigenous conservationist who is for a Place advocates for inclusive stewardship with Indigenous Peoples and other marginalised communities to conserve species and ecosystems and the connections that bind communities to their landscapes. As an example of how settler–coloniser conservation practitioners can be for a Place, we discuss writing a policy statement in 2019 on behalf of the Society for Conservation Biology opposing the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai‘i. We describe the thought process behind our policy statement and provide examples of other actions for conservation researchers and practitioners working to be for a Place. We aim to provide our colleagues, particularly those trained in settler–coloniser conservation practices, an opportunity to identify more just practices for the Places we aspire to conserve.
Keywords: astronomy, conservation, equity, indigenous knowledge, Mauna Kea, social and environmental justice.
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