Justice in Conservation : A global land-use perspective
Environmental geograph er Camille Venier-Cambron explored ways to integrate local justice in the field of conservation planning.
The field of cons ervation science has continuously evolved to meet changing societal n eeds. Recent times have seen a shift towards rights-based conservatio n approaches. However, mainstream conservation planning tools may not be well suited to delivering these goals.
In her research, Ven ier-Cambron assesses whether common approaches may inadvertently gene rate inequitable outcomes, as well as how we might include local land -use needs into a global planning frameworks. Doing so demonstrates t he potential to consider explicit dimensions of both justice and burd en-sharing. This is followed with an examination of what kinds of mec hanisms are available for ensuring that global environmental agendas are implemented in a way that meets our normative objectives, highlig hting the difficulty of accounting for the politics of land. Finally, she uses a transformation framework to explore a potential pathway t o a future that is both just and biodiverse.
Safeguardi
ng the right to a healthy environment
The study considers
the way that global conservation planning can be disconnected from l
ocal land-use needs. This can lead to unjust outcomes if large-scale
agendas are imposed at the expense of local realities. But this doesn
’t need to be the case. There is even potential for large-scale age
ndas to help local struggles for justice, as both biodiversity loss a
nd environmental justice struggles face common threats and common sol
utions. Indeed, the conservation community increasingly recognizes th
e value of a rights-based approach to conservation, which seeks to pr
otect biodiversity by safeguarding the right of all people to a safe
and healthy environment.
In her thesis, Venier-Cambron explores ways to integrate local justice concerns into global planning framew orks. She examines the means and challenges of ensuring that global n ormative agendas are implemented in a just and effective manner. This requires being explicit about our assumptions and objectives, moving away from technocratic solutions.
Acceptable solutions
Biodiversity loss is one of the most pressing challenges
of our time. As such, there has been a strong focus on multilateral
agendas for tackling this global issue. Global coordination is import
ant for addressing these challenges, but the way conservation is disc
ussed and the types of solutions that are seen as legitimate must be
in line with the needs of the people and places for which they are pr
escribed. This has not always been the case, given the colonial conte
xt in which conservation emerged. However, the field has since evolve
d with a contemporary focus on rights-based approaches. Even so, just
ice is not always considered in mainstream planning frameworks or age
nda targets, which often inherit certain assumptions about biodiversi
ty and land. It is therefore important to find ways of expanding the
field in a justice-oriented direction, as well as shifting the range
of acceptable solutions in international discourse.
Venier-Camb ron used a variety of methodologies, including spatial analysis, land -use modelling, qualitative comparative analysis, and a futuring fram ework.
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DESCRIPTION: Environmental geographer Camille Venier-Cambron e xplored ways to integrate local justice in the field of conservation planning. The field of conservation science has continuously evolved to meet changing societal needs. Recent times have seen a sh ift towards rights-based conservation approaches. However, mainstream conservation planning tools may not be well suited to delivering the se goals. In her research, Venier-Cambron assesses whether common app roaches may inadvertently generate inequitable outcomes, as well as h ow we might include local land-use needs into a global planning frame works. Doing so demonstrates the potential to consider explicit dimen sions of both justice and burden-sharing. This is followed with an ex amination of what kinds of mechanisms are available for ensuring that global environmental agendas are implemented in a way that meets our normative objectives, highlighting the difficulty of accounting for the politics of land. Finally, she uses a transformation framework to explore a potential pathway to a future that is both just and biodiv erse. Safeguarding the right to a healthy environment