Eviction for Conservation: A Global Overview

TLDR

Displacement from protected area establishment and enforcement has strained conservationist–rural relations worldwide, reflecting a shift in research toward uncovering protected areas' past and stronger enforcement of existing legislation. The study examines eviction from protected areas, evaluates divergent views on literature quality, and reviews the best analyses of relocation consequences to identify future research directions. The authors analyze nearly 250 reports compiled over two years, examining patterns in the literature and reviewing the most robust relocation analyses to highlight future research gaps. The literature quality is poor, largely concentrated in a few regions, and although publications on relocation surged after 1990, most cited protected areas were established before 1980.

Abstract

Displacement resulting from the establishment and enforcement of protected areas has troubled relationships between conservationists and rural groups in many parts of the world. This paper examines one aspect of dis- placement: eviction from protected areas. We examine divergent opinions about the quality of information available in the literature. We then examine the literature itself, discussing the patterns visible in nearly 250 reports we compiled over the last two years. We argue that the quality of the literature is not great, but that there are signs that this problem is primarily concentrated in a few regions of the world. We show that there has been a remarkable surge of publications about relocation after 1990, yet most protected areas reported in these publications were established before 1980. This reflects two processes, first a move within research circles to recover and rediscover pro- tected areas' murky past, and second stronger enforcement of existing legisla- tion. We review the better analyses of the consequences of relocation from protected areas which are available and highlight areas of future research.