Beyond 'conservation': exploring meaning, practice, and relations with wildlife in two Maasai pastoralist communities in southern Kenya

Based on two summers of fieldwork living with the Olkiramatian and Shompole Maasai communities in Kenya's South Rift, this presentation comments on the practice of 'conservation' and how it has been experienced by this local... [ view full abstract ]

Based on two summers of fieldwork living with the Olkiramatian and Shompole Maasai communities in Kenya's South Rift, this presentation comments on the practice of 'conservation' and how it has been experienced by this local population. Specifically, the practice of ‘conservation’ in these two areas can be situated within the ‘community-based’ approach, which diverged from past fortress conservation models and emphasizes the need for local actors to hold decision-making power and also reap benefits tied to ‘conservation’ practices (e.g. ecotourism). I will discuss the hybrid land management strategies used in Olkiramatian and Shompole, and explain how they interact with ‘conservation’, tourism, and changing valuations of wildlife. As people who have coexisted with wildlife for centuries, how has the integration of neoliberal ideologies and the use of ‘conservation’ as a model for development changed the human/non-human relationship in the South Rift? How are expectations of modernity tied to the practice of ‘conservation’, and connections with well-wishing foreign tourists? Most importantly, though, I will reflect on what ‘conservation’ actually means to Maasai pastoralists – whether it be an idea originating in the West, an area exclusively for wildlife, or a set of land use prohibitions. Once we understand how diverse the interpretations of ‘conservation’ are amongst the people who are paying the greatest cost for wildlife protection (e.g. loss of land, loss of livestock, loss of life), we can move forward towards a pluralistic, cross-cultural conservation ethic that is attuned to local realities and local needs. This movement is critical in the Kenyan context, with the conflation of ‘conservation’ and tourism that leads to complicated and often negative relationships between private tourism investors, local communities, and wildlife-oriented organizations such as the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Thinking beyond the idea of ‘conservation’ as a Euro-centric endeavor and discourse, with its moral imperative and division of human and non-human, is crucial as we re-configure what community-based conservation means, and should look like, in Maasailand and beyond.