Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda

In recent years, convivial conservation has been proposed as a better alternative to fortress conservation by working with marginalised communities. This is a welcome development because most of the injustices and failures of fortress conservation arose from neglecting local communities’ view of b...

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Main Author: Christine, Ampumuza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Conservation and Society 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/654
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author Christine, Ampumuza
author_facet Christine, Ampumuza
author_sort Christine, Ampumuza
collection KAB-DR
description In recent years, convivial conservation has been proposed as a better alternative to fortress conservation by working with marginalised communities. This is a welcome development because most of the injustices and failures of fortress conservation arose from neglecting local communities’ view of being with nature, and knowledges of nature (plural of knowledge highlights that there are multiple ways and types of acquiring and transmitting knowledge through generations). A critical analysis of the conservation literature indicates a disharmony between the indigenous ways, and Northern ways of being with nature—an ontological discord in conservation. This article considers convivial conservation as starting point to address this discord. Based on the content analysis of stories of Batwa’s historical relations with gorillas, unstructured interviews, ethnographic village stays, and empirical observations, we argue that open-mindedness—to learn from, to be affected by and affect our fellow dwellers on earth (human and non-human)—marks the starting point of convivial living. Therefore, convivial conservation can further be enriched by expanding the scope of historical reparations to include knowledges that have been historically excluded. To do so, convivial conservation scholars need to emphasise the co-creation of knowledge with their human and non-human counterparts. By doing so, these scholars will safeguard against marginalising other ways of knowing, thus achieving its transformative agenda.
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spelling oai:idr.kab.ac.ug:20.500.12493-6542024-01-17T04:45:39Z Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda Special Issue: Exploring Convivial Conservation in Theory and Practice Christine, Ampumuza convivial conservation, Batwa, gorillas, indigenous ontologies, Uganda In recent years, convivial conservation has been proposed as a better alternative to fortress conservation by working with marginalised communities. This is a welcome development because most of the injustices and failures of fortress conservation arose from neglecting local communities’ view of being with nature, and knowledges of nature (plural of knowledge highlights that there are multiple ways and types of acquiring and transmitting knowledge through generations). A critical analysis of the conservation literature indicates a disharmony between the indigenous ways, and Northern ways of being with nature—an ontological discord in conservation. This article considers convivial conservation as starting point to address this discord. Based on the content analysis of stories of Batwa’s historical relations with gorillas, unstructured interviews, ethnographic village stays, and empirical observations, we argue that open-mindedness—to learn from, to be affected by and affect our fellow dwellers on earth (human and non-human)—marks the starting point of convivial living. Therefore, convivial conservation can further be enriched by expanding the scope of historical reparations to include knowledges that have been historically excluded. To do so, convivial conservation scholars need to emphasise the co-creation of knowledge with their human and non-human counterparts. By doing so, these scholars will safeguard against marginalising other ways of knowing, thus achieving its transformative agenda. Kabale University 2022-07-05T15:47:40Z 2022-07-05T15:47:40Z 2022 Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/654 en application/pdf Conservation and Society
spellingShingle convivial conservation, Batwa, gorillas, indigenous ontologies, Uganda
Christine, Ampumuza
Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda
title Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda
title_full Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda
title_fullStr Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda
title_short Living with Gorillas? Lessons from Batwa-Gorillas’ Convivial Relations at Bwindi Forest, Uganda
title_sort living with gorillas lessons from batwa gorillas convivial relations at bwindi forest uganda
topic convivial conservation, Batwa, gorillas, indigenous ontologies, Uganda
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/654
work_keys_str_mv AT christineampumuza livingwithgorillaslessonsfrombatwagorillasconvivialrelationsatbwindiforestuganda
AT christineampumuza specialissueexploringconvivialconservationintheoryandpractice