Park rangers

The study about effectiveness of anti-poaching activities inside and outside wildlife
protected areas in Tanzania was carried out in the Tarangire-Lake Manyara Complex; the
area defined by water shed boundaries centred on lakes Manyara and Burunge and
adjacent lands. The wild animals from Tarangire National Park (TNP) and Lake
Manyara National Park (LMNP) share the same ecosystem. The following parameters
were studied; the type of anti-poaching activities, factors necessitating their use and
administration; their practical applicability, factors hindering effective and efficient
performance and the effectiveness of anti-poaching activities. Four villages in the
complex were included in the study, which include Vilima vitatu, Mwada, Sangaiwe and
Mto wa Mbu. Structured household questionnaire and key informants checklists for
selected community members in the area, TNP and LMNP staff were used for data
collection. The study shows that anti-poaching activities inside and outside wildlife
protected areas are effective in protecting the area natural resources. With poachers arrest
in both TNP and LMNP being higher outside than inside these areas, the Protection
Departments and respondents suggested ways to reduce the incidences of poaching
through effective anti-poaching activities. The study recommends education, provision of
necessary tangible benefits, incentives use, problem animal control and promoting the
cultural tourism to community. The Protection Department staffing, modern facilities and
staff morale should be motivated. Evaluating effectiveness promotes adaptive
management; improves project/programme planning; and promotes accountability.

Title of thesis: Traditional ecological knowledge and (co-)management among the Mapuche: Exploring Lanín national Park (Argentina).

Based on empirical field research, this thesis examines the relationship between traditional
ecological knowledge (TEK) and nature conservation, focusing specifically on the mapuche
communities in the Lanín National Park (LNP) in Argentina, and the issues and complexities
relating to the co-management of the LNP.
The collected data were qualitatively analyzed according to an interdisciplinary and
systematic theoretical perspective, which highlights that: 1) The notion of "indigenous
community" has to be problematized regarding the context of internal migrations; the
recognized status of indigenous communities has repercussions within the LNP; 2) TEK is
ecosociospecific, embedded in an institutional regime of community possession, and show a
coherent set to deal with a wide range of needs (sociocultural and economic reproduction);
3) The institutional conditions related to the LNP are fundamental and influence the updating
of TEK, and the guidance of the use of natural resources: for example, the partial physical
possession of the resources for the Mapuche, does not allow them for economic and
sociocultural reproduction; the spatial boundary underline the inherent limitations of TEK,
when they have to respond to the needs of productive growth (increasing population
density), and results in the deterioration of ecological funds.
Thus, this thesis reveals the contradictions between co-management and the TEK of the
Mapuche, threatening both the TEK and the natural resources of LNP; it also draws
attention to the agency of the social actors, as the Mapuche now seem to confer upon their
TEK a strategic role in a process of reterritorialization and indigenous empowerment.
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Titre de la thèse: Savoirs traditionnels écologiques et (co-)gestion chez les Mapuche :
Le cas du Parc national Lanín (Argentine).

Réalisée à partir d'une recherche de terrain, cette thèse porte sur le rapport entre les savoirs
traditionnels écologiques (STE) et la conservation de la nature; particulièrement ceux de
collectivités mapuche concernées par le parc national Lanín (PNL) en Argentine, marqué par
un processus de co-gestion et ses enjeux.
Les données collectées ont été analysées qualitativement suivant une perspective théorique
interdisciplinaire et systémique, mettant en évidence que: 1) La notion de «communauté
autochtone» doit être problématisée vu les migrations internes; le statut reconnu aux
autochtones a des répercussions dans le PNL; 2) Les STE sont écosociospécifiques, ancrés
dans un régime institutionnel de possession communautaire et relèvent d’une logique
d’ensemble afin de répondre à un ensemble de besoins (reproduction socioculturelle et
économique); 3) Les conditions institutionnelles liées au PNL sont fondamentales et influent
sur l'actualisation des STE et l'orientation dans l'usage des ressources: par exemple, la
possession matérielle partielle des Mapuche sur les ressources ne leur permet pas une
reproduction économique et socioculturelle; la limite spatiale souligne les limites intrinsèques
des STE lorsqu'il s'agit de répondre à la nécessité d'une croissance productive (population
toujours plus dense), engendrant la détérioration des fonds écologiques.
Ainsi, cette thèse révèle les contradictions entre le cadre de la co-gestion et les STE
mapuche, menaçant à la fois les STE et les ressources du PNL; également l'agencéité des
acteurs sociaux puisque les Mapuche conféreraient désormais à leurs STE un rôle dans un
processus de reterritorialisation et d'empowerment autochtone.

This study provides insight into the growing paradigm shift of conservation and indigenous land management, and the responsibilities of indigenous rangers in conservation.  Globally, rangers play a role in conservation management and are considered the “frontlines” to conservation, but at the local level what role do rangers play?  In addition to the review of literature on rangers as stewards for the environment, a qualitative case study of the YUS Conservation Area Ranger Program in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was conducted to research the role of YUS Rangers and the interaction between local Rangers and landowners.

The mutual dependence of extensive land-use and conservation management has become apparent in Europe in the last 20–30 yr. Extensive land-use often survives in protected areas only, in the form of conservation management. Knowledge of extensive herding and that of conservation management are parts of two knowledge systems (traditional and scientific) which often leads to conflicts between locals and con-servationists. We studied two herding/conservation systems (salt steppes and wood-pastures), and developed an inventory on the common/similar and conflicting/different objectives and pasture management practices of herders and conservationists. Data were collected by participatory knowledge co-production in teamwork of the co-authors (herders, conservation managers, and scientists). Data were analyzed and discussed in teamwork too. Herders and conservationists identified 23 objectives and 29 management practices. We found a number of common interests with respect to herding, the ideal state of pastures, legal provisions, and communication. Conflict resolution recommendations (e.g., on time and place of grazing, pasture improvements) were also developed. We argue that by co-production of knowledge, and establishment of a herder " school " the mitigation of the existing conflicts would be more effective. Our conclusion is that a new profession is needed: that of the conservation herder. The conservation herder shall be an individual knowledgeable about herding and pasture management, trained in conservation and ecology, able to design management experiments, and develop novel but tradition-based management practices. As such, he/she could facilitate adaptation of extensive herding in the changing socioeconomic environment.

This article investigates the Patagonian ecotourism industry and the spatial production of gender privilege. The analysis attends to how the spatial practices of park rangers, tourism guides and climbers create a gendered space of capital accumulation that devalues and marginalises othered subjects – such as women and non‐alpine men – within specific domains of nature. Developing the concept of a figuration of capital, this article argues that the ecotourism industry has facilitated the rise of an alpine masculine subject based upon key bodily values: robust physicality, a conservationist ethic and heroic narration about engaging wilderness.