Biodiversity conservation discourses. A case study on scientists and government authorities in Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve,Mexico |
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Authors: | Leticia Durand,Luis Bernardo Vá zquez |
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Affiliation: | 1. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Av. Universidad s/n Circuito II, Col.Chamilpa, C.P. 62210, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico;2. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico |
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Abstract: | Aiming to explore the relationship between natural protected areas operation and how conservation is logically described, this paper analyzes the discourses that government authorities and scientists developed on conservation and social participation in Sierra de Huautla Biosphere Reserve. Our results indicate that conservation is understood as the intent to keep nature with the lowest possible level of human interference, as its main strategies are: to eliminate inhabitant's unawareness about nature and to reinforce environmental legislation and inspection. Social participation was acknowledged as essential in reserve management, but local inhabitants, even when recognized as important actors, were excluded from the reserve co-administration scheme and mainly regarded as the beneficiaries of already designed projects. In order to achieve SHBR environmental and social goals, it is necessary to modify authorities’ comprehension of social participation toward a process that supports social change by empowering NPA inhabitants and transforming them into political actors. |
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Keywords: | Environmental discourses Conservation Biosphere reserves Social participation Tropical dry forests Mexico |
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