Conservation Crossroads and the Role of Hierarchy in the Decision-Making Process

MONJEAU, ADRIAN

Natureza & Conservação

Associação Brasileira de Ciência Ecológica e Conservação (Abeco),

Año: 2010 vol. 8 p. 112 - 119

1948-6596

This essay examines several crossroads, paradoxes and controversies in conservation politics in Latin America: populated and non-populated protected areas, local versus global forces, and the role of the national government in making long-term, ecologically correct decisions versus short-term politically correct local decisions. Ecologically sound projects at a global scale, such as the maintenance of the ecosystems working order, exceed the lifetime of the present generation. In addition to this, as decisions in a particular area may have ecological consequences that go beyond the sphere of that area, the responsibility cannot be delegated to the local management level. Local consensus is essential to implement conservation goals on the ground, but it should never be opposed to global priorities, especially because this antagonism puts the ecosystem working order at risk. In this ranking, the hierarchical organization of the decision making process, from global to local, is crucial, so that the State retains its organizational role while working along with the local forces in their effort to implement conservation.