Neoliberal conservation, garifuna territorial rights and resource management in the cayos cochinos marine protected area

Abstract

This case study contributes to the study of neoliberal conservation and indigenous rights through an interdisciplinary (anthropology and fi sheries management) evaluation of the 2004-2009 management plan for Honduras' Cayos Cochinos Marine Protected Area (CCMPA). The CCMPA was established in 1993, in a region that has been inhabited by the afro-indigenous Garifuna for over 213 years. An evaluation of the CCMPA's 2004-2009 management plan's socioeconomic objectives is situated within the historical-cultural context of a long-standing territorial struggle, changes in governance practices, and related shifts in resource access and control. The article highlights the central importance of local social activism and the relative or partial success that such mobilisation can bring about for restructuring resource governance.

Integrated land-sea management: recommendations for planning, implementation and management

“…Locally Managed Marine Areas (Weeks & Jupiter 2013) Locally managed marine area used as a social or cultural tool aimed at maintaining livelihoods, food security, conservation of biodiversity and planning for climate change. Neoliberal Conservation (Brondo & Bown 2011) Political strategy that incorporates privatization of public services, government deregulation and economic markets to facilitate use and management of natural resources. Participatory Forest Management (Traynor & Hill 2008) Local communities and government cooperate to protect and manage forested areas.…”

¿Quiénes se benefician del turismo en Cayos Cochinos, Honduras?

“…Los datos empíricos se enriquecieron con otros estudios, en particular Brondo (2013), Brondo y Bown (2011) y Bown (2010. Bown analiza la dimensión del impacto ecológico y socioeconómico del comanejo en el mnmcc.…”

Green growth or ecological commodification: debating the green economy in the global south

“…The considerable body of research exploring the impacts of neoliberal environmental governance and conservation strategies (via case studies (Brondo and Bown, 2011;Büscher and Dressler, 2012;Dressler and Roth, 2011;Fletcher and Breitling, 2012;Matulis, 2013;Robertson, 2014) and more generally (Arsel and Büscher, 2012;Brockington and Duffy, 2010;Castree, 2008;Fletcher, 2012;Himley, 2008;McAfee, 2012)), provide a rich source of reflections on the likely implications of green economy initiatives and the accelerated commodification of nature which it seems likely to promote. One key observation from this literature is that commodification processes often have significant distributional implications that tend to reinforce the maldistribution of access to resources and unequal power relations; although this depends on the way initiatives have been planned and implemented, levels of local consultation, preexisting patterns of privilege and exclusion and so on.…”