13.4 Environmental Justice and Conservation
4 min read•july 30, 2024
in conservation addresses the fair treatment of all people in environmental decision-making. It emerged in the 1980s, highlighting disproportionate burdens on marginalized communities and extending to ecological justice for non-human species and ecosystems.
This topic intersects with conservation by examining the distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across populations. It focuses on access to natural resources, inclusive decision-making processes, and integrating social justice, economic equity, and cultural preservation alongside ecological considerations.
Environmental Justice and Conservation
Defining Environmental Justice
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- Environmental justice ensures fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental decision-making
- Applies regardless of race, color, national origin, or income
- Encompasses development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies
- Movement emerged in the 1980s highlighting disproportionate environmental burdens on marginalized communities
- Extends beyond human populations to include ecological justice
- Recognizes rights of non-human species and ecosystems
- Addresses issues in conservation like land rights, resource access, and impacts of protected areas on local communities
Intersections with Conservation
- Examines distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across populations
- Focuses on access to natural resources and decision-making in environmental management
- Incorporates procedural justice in conservation planning and implementation
- Emphasizes inclusive and participatory processes
- Integrates social justice, economic equity, and cultural preservation alongside ecological considerations
- Examples of environmental justice in conservation:
- Ensuring indigenous peoples have access to traditional hunting grounds in protected areas
- Involving local communities in decisions about establishing national parks
Impacts on Marginalized Communities
Disproportionate Environmental Burdens
- Marginalized communities face greater exposure to environmental hazards
- Low-income populations and racial minorities often targeted
- describes intentional or unintentional targeting for hazardous activities
- Siting of polluting industries and waste disposal facilities in minority neighborhoods
- Climate change impacts vulnerable populations more severely
- Increased frequency of natural disasters (hurricanes, floods)
- Greater food insecurity and displacement risks
- Concept of affects marginalized areas
- Certain regions disproportionately impacted for perceived broader societal benefit
- Examples: Cancer Alley in Louisiana, coal mining communities in Appalachia
Health and Economic Consequences
- Health disparities linked to environmental factors more prevalent in marginalized communities
- Higher rates of asthma, cancer, and other diseases due to toxin exposure
- Examples: elevated blood lead levels in Flint, Michigan; higher asthma rates in urban areas near highways
- Limited access to environmental amenities
- Fewer green spaces, clean water sources, and healthy food options
- Contributes to poorer health outcomes and reduced quality of life
- Economic factors perpetuate cycle of environmental injustice
- Lower property values in polluted areas
- Limited mobility for affected communities due to poverty
- Example: difficulty selling homes near contaminated sites, trapping residents in unhealthy environments
Legacies of Inequality in Conservation
Historical Conservation Approaches
- rooted in colonial ideologies
- Led to displacement of indigenous peoples and local communities
- Example: creation of Yellowstone National Park resulted in removal of Native American tribes
- Racial and ethnic biases influenced conservation priorities
- Western conservationists' values often prioritized over local and indigenous cultures
- Example: emphasis on protecting charismatic megafauna (elephants, tigers) over culturally significant species
- Appropriation of traditional ecological knowledge without proper recognition or compensation
- Contributes to ongoing inequities in conservation science and practice
- Example: use of indigenous plant knowledge in pharmaceutical development without benefit-sharing
Ongoing Disparities and Power Imbalances
- Historical land dispossession creates lasting social and economic impacts
- Forced relocation of indigenous peoples for conservation purposes
- Example: Maasai communities displaced from traditional lands for wildlife reserves in East Africa
- Top-down, expert-driven conservation approaches exclude local voices
- Often disregards local knowledge and practices
- Example: imposition of fishing restrictions without consulting local fishing communities
- Persistent inequities in conservation organizations
- Disparities in funding, representation, and leadership
- Example: underrepresentation of people of color in environmental NGO leadership positions
- imposes Western conservation models
- Often at the expense of local sustainable practices and livelihoods
- Example: banning traditional hunting practices in favor of Western-style protected areas
Integrating Environmental Justice Principles
Community-Based Conservation Approaches
- Prioritize local participation in conservation initiatives
- Involve communities in decision-making processes
- Implement equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms
- Incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous management practices
- Ensure proper recognition and compensation for knowledge holders
- Example: integrating Aboriginal fire management techniques in Australian national parks
- Develop inclusive stakeholder engagement processes
- Actively seek out and incorporate diverse voices, particularly from marginalized communities
- Example: creating multilingual outreach materials and holding meetings at accessible times and locations
Policy and Practice Improvements
- Implement environmental justice impact assessments
- Standard practice in conservation project planning and policy development
- Example: evaluating potential displacement effects before establishing protected areas
- Promote capacity building and leadership development programs
- Empower marginalized communities to participate effectively in conservation efforts
- Example: training local community members as park rangers or conservation technicians
- Integrate social and environmental indicators in conservation monitoring
- Track progress on both ecological and justice-related outcomes
- Example: measuring changes in local income levels alongside biodiversity metrics
- Create equitable benefit-sharing mechanisms
- Ensure local communities receive fair compensation from conservation activities
- Example: revenue-sharing programs from ecotourism in national parks
Key Terms to Review (22)
Community vulnerability: Community vulnerability refers to the susceptibility of a community to harm from environmental hazards, social inequities, and economic challenges. It encompasses how external factors, like pollution or climate change, can disproportionately affect marginalized populations. Understanding community vulnerability is essential in addressing environmental justice, as it highlights the need for equitable conservation strategies that consider the specific needs and risks faced by different communities.
Community-based conservation: Community-based conservation is an approach to environmental management that emphasizes the involvement of local communities in the stewardship of natural resources and biodiversity. It aims to empower these communities by integrating their knowledge, needs, and aspirations into conservation strategies, fostering sustainable practices that benefit both people and the environment.
Disproportionate impact: Disproportionate impact refers to the unequal effects that environmental policies or changes can have on different communities, often affecting marginalized or low-income groups more severely. This concept highlights how social, economic, and environmental issues intersect, revealing that those already vulnerable are often the most affected by environmental degradation and climate change. Understanding this term is essential for addressing fairness and equity in conservation efforts and environmental justice.
Ecosystem Services: Ecosystem services are the benefits that humans derive from natural ecosystems, including provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. These services play a crucial role in maintaining the health of the planet and supporting human well-being by providing essential resources, regulating environmental conditions, and offering cultural and recreational benefits.
Endangered Species Act: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a key piece of environmental legislation enacted in the United States in 1973 aimed at protecting and recovering imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. The act provides a framework for the conservation of threatened and endangered species through habitat protection, recovery plans, and regulation of activities that may harm these species.
Environmental Colonialism: Environmental colonialism refers to the exploitation of natural resources and the imposition of external environmental policies on marginalized communities, often in former colonies. This concept highlights the power dynamics where dominant nations or corporations dictate how local environments are managed, often disregarding indigenous knowledge and practices, leading to social injustice and ecological degradation.
Environmental Equity: Environmental equity refers to the fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across all communities, ensuring that no group bears a disproportionate share of negative environmental impacts. It emphasizes the need for equal access to clean air, water, and natural resources, while recognizing the social, economic, and political factors that influence environmental decision-making.
Environmental Justice: Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all individuals in environmental decision-making, regardless of race, color, national origin, or income. It emphasizes the need to address disparities in environmental burdens and benefits experienced by marginalized communities, ensuring that everyone has access to a clean and healthy environment. This concept also highlights the interconnectedness of social justice and environmental sustainability.
Environmental Justice Network: An Environmental Justice Network is a collective of individuals and organizations dedicated to addressing and advocating for equitable access to a healthy environment, particularly for marginalized communities disproportionately affected by environmental hazards. This network aims to raise awareness about the intersection of social justice and environmental issues, promoting fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental decision-making processes.
Environmental Racism: Environmental racism refers to the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on people of color and low-income communities. This concept highlights how marginalized groups are often exposed to greater environmental risks, such as pollution and toxic waste, due to systemic inequalities in policy-making, land use, and resource distribution. It underscores the need for social justice in environmental decision-making processes to ensure equitable treatment for all communities.
Fortress conservation: Fortress conservation refers to a strict approach to environmental protection where natural areas are isolated from human activities, often by creating protected areas or reserves. This strategy aims to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems by limiting access and resource use, sometimes leading to conflict with local communities who rely on these resources for their livelihoods.
Grassroots activism: Grassroots activism refers to the efforts of ordinary people at the local level to effect social or political change, often through community organizing, advocacy, and direct action. This type of activism emphasizes the power of individuals and communities to mobilize around issues that directly affect their lives, seeking to influence decision-makers and create lasting change from the bottom up rather than relying solely on established institutions or top-down approaches.
Greenpeace: Greenpeace is an international environmental organization founded in 1971 that aims to address pressing global environmental issues through advocacy, activism, and research. The organization focuses on promoting sustainability and environmental justice by challenging harmful practices, raising public awareness, and advocating for policies that protect the planet and its ecosystems. Its work often intersects with social justice, emphasizing the rights of communities affected by environmental degradation.
Justice as fairness: Justice as fairness is a political philosophy introduced by John Rawls that emphasizes the importance of ensuring that social institutions are structured in a way that is equitable and fair to all individuals. This concept aims to provide a fair distribution of rights, opportunities, and resources, ensuring that even the least advantaged members of society benefit from social cooperation. It connects deeply with environmental justice by advocating for policies that address inequalities related to environmental risks and benefits.
Love Canal: Love Canal is a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, that became infamous in the late 1970s due to a major environmental disaster caused by toxic waste dumping. It serves as a critical example of the intersection of environmental pollution and social justice, highlighting how marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by industrial activities and governmental negligence.
National Environmental Policy Act: The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law enacted in 1969 that requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions before making decisions. This law establishes a framework for considering environmental impacts and public input, promoting transparency and informed decision-making in federal projects, which connects to broader conservation efforts, environmental justice, and international policies regarding sustainable development.
Robert Bullard: Robert Bullard is widely recognized as the father of environmental justice, advocating for the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental policies, especially marginalized communities. His work highlights the connections between racial discrimination and environmental degradation, emphasizing that low-income and minority groups often bear the brunt of pollution and ecological harm. Bullard's research and activism have been pivotal in shaping the dialogue around environmental justice and its significance in conservation efforts.
Sacrifice zones: Sacrifice zones refer to areas that are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards, often due to industrial activities, leading to severe ecological and health impacts on the local population. These zones are typically inhabited by marginalized communities who lack the political power to resist harmful practices that degrade their environment, making them vulnerable to exploitation and neglect.
Socially just conservation: Socially just conservation refers to the practice of ensuring that conservation efforts are equitable, inclusive, and fair, taking into account the rights and needs of all communities, especially marginalized groups. This approach acknowledges that environmental issues are deeply intertwined with social justice and seeks to address inequalities in access to resources and decision-making processes related to conservation.
Standing Rock: Standing Rock refers to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which threatened their water supply and sacred lands. The protests, which gained national and international attention in 2016, highlighted issues of environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and the importance of protecting natural resources from corporate interests.
Sustainable Development: Sustainable development refers to a development approach that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This concept emphasizes the interconnectedness of economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection, highlighting that for development to be sustainable, it must consider ecological limits and ensure that resources are used responsibly.
Van Jones: Van Jones is a prominent American civil rights activist, author, and television personality known for his work on environmental justice, social equity, and sustainable solutions to social issues. His efforts focus on bridging the gap between environmentalism and social justice, advocating for policies that address the disproportionate impacts of environmental degradation on marginalized communities.