In “The Successes and Failures of the Conservation Movement,” an episode of The Climate Pod, the award-winning environmental and science journalist Michelle Nijhuis highlights the importance of understanding the roots of the conservation movement and its historical nuances. The Climate Pod is a podcast hosted by brothers Ty and Brock Benefiel and covers contemporary climate issues. It features guest speakers such as journalists, activists, academics, and artists who seek to spread knowledge about the climate crisis.
Nijhuis gives a comprehensive overview of the history of conservation. Conservation is defined as the act of using scientific principles to sustainably manage resources for current and future generations. Nijhuis mainly talks about topics featured in her book, Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction, which informs readers about the history of the conservation movement. Her book demonstrates the complicated social and ethical issues that surround conservation and the many diverse social actors —politicians, economists, climate change activists, and conservationists — that have been intertwined in humankind’s fight to preserve life on Earth. In the episode, she broaches subjects such as preserving bison in the US, the greater awareness of the importance of global conservation efforts following World War II, the impact of trophy hunting in Namibian conservancies, and the potential for genetic technology to aid conservation efforts.
One of the most thought provoking segments of Nijhuis’ appearance on The Climate Pod is her discussion of intersectionality. She highlights how explicit racism, gender inequality, wealth inequality, nationalism, and tensions rooted in colonialism have been and continue to be present in the conservation movement. Her focus on intersectionality is helpful for those who are new to this mode of thinking, and is refreshing and empowering to those who have been waiting for prominent voices in the conservation movement to openly adopt and value an intersectional lens. Nijhuis illustrates how complex conservation efforts are by describing the roots of the international conservation movement. Unfortunately, the first steps taken toward international conservation often followed right along the path of colonialism. Many British wildlife enthusiasts were heavily invested in conserving local environments during the colonization of various African nations. British conservationists implemented the conservation method they used back at home: they established national parks or wildlife reserves to protect the species deemed at risk of endangerment. While this method was sometimes effective, it disregarded and displaced the people that were already settled on that land, causing long standing resentment. Parks and reserves often benefit tourists on temporary vacations, while causing permanent harm to native peoples that live in the area. During the African independence movements in the post-World War II period, there was tension between British conservationists who wanted to continue the same approaches that existed during colonial times and new national leaders who sought an alternative method of conservation. These tensions still exist today.
Despite these tensions and challenges, Nijhuis discusses how alternative conservation methods have the potential to both conserve species and respect the rights of people native to that land. For example, conservation efforts in Namibia of southwest Africa facilitate greater local community control and autonomy over local species. By returning authority to the grassroots, local people now have a greater stake in sustainably managing wildlife and resources for the benefit of the entire community. She says that returning the power to the people who actually live within the environment re-awakens their sense of connection to the interconnected web of species that live all around them. Despite the many challenges of modern conservation, Nijhuis’s ultimate message is that there is still hope to be had for conservation efforts:
“There’s such a temptation now to think, ‘All is lost, the apocalypse is upon us.’ But you know, we don’t have any idea that we’ve thought that many times before and we were clearly wrong. So, we can move forward now with a sense of opportunity.”
