Indigenous peoples, environmental change & tourism in extreme environments

Researchers
Jeremy Keenan

Institution
University of East Anglia

Summary of Project
Researcher Profiles
Researcher Contact Details
Publications
Annual progress report - 2003 (pdf format)

Summary

The project will explore a range of issues associated with environmental change, traditional (indigenous) cultures and tourism development in extreme environments. The Tuareg, who inhabit large areas of the Central and Sahelian and who by tradition are semi-nomadic pastoralists, have been chosen as a case study for this project as they provide a wealth of information on such key issues as responses to extreme climatic variability, conflicting tourism development strategies and problems of natural capital resource management. This depth of material enables us to raise and answer a number of crucial questions, such as those relating to the actual extent of climatic/environmental change in the region; the responses of local people to these changes; how environment is perceived (i.e. as a cultural rather than a purely physical entity); the types of resource management problems that are perceived and/or actually encountered by local people; why the perceptions of and behavioural responses to these types of issue differ so markedly between local people and external agents; and why there are such conflicting strategies - especially between governments, operators and local peoples - towards the development of tourism.

Background/Rationale
The Rationale for selecting the Tuareg as a case study for this project is twofold. Firstly, few indigenous peoples in the world, living in such an extreme environment, have been more subjected in recent years to environmental change/variability, conflicting tourism development strategies and problems of natural capital resource management. The main foci of political and social unrest in much of the Sahara/Sahel (as amongst many other indigenous peoples living in extreme environments) are conflicting strategies towards tourism development and problems associated with the management of natural capital. Concern for the environment, perceived culturally as much more than just a physical entity, lies at the heart of these two overridingly important issues, which for many peoples are perceived literally as matters of 'life and death'. The second reason for selecting the Tuareg is that they afford us, thanks largely to the on-going research of Dr Jeremy Keenan, with a great depth of readily available data, thus enabling us to answer many questions and reach many conclusions without the need for time-consuming and expensive fieldwork.

Key research questions
Key research questions include:

1. The extent of climatic change in the Sahara during the twentieth century.
2. The extent to which the environment is perceived by local people as a socio-cultural entity rather than as a simply physical entity.
3. The extent to which tourism development in the Sahara is ignoring such environmental-cultural issues and is thus being perceived by indigenous peoples as leading to an 'environmental catastrophe'.
4. How the difference in perception of such environmental/cultural issues by 'external' agents (such as governments) and local peoples may be a major contributor to the construction of political identities, political marginalisation and associated political unrest.

Research approach Much of the detailed research on which this project is based has already been undertaken over an extensive period of time. This research has been of a fundamentally anthropological, historical and geographical nature, relying heavily on detailed, long-term participation with the peoples involved. As a result, detailed records of climatic variability as well social, political and economic change, including the perceptions and responses of local peoples, cover most of the last century - from the beginning of the 20Th century to the present day. Part of this rich and almost unparalleled record stems from the research of Dr. Jeremy Keenan which was undertaken amongst the Tuareg of the Sahara during the 1960s and 1970s and again over the last four years. This predominantly social anthropological approach is reinforced by the provision of detailed climatological data and comparative analysis with peoples in other parts of the world (e.g. Himalayas, Kalahari, etc) experiencing similar problems. The project will involve a certain amount of fieldwork, mostly to verify certain data, policies and outcomes with relevant bodies (e.g. government agencies, NGO's, local communities).

Intended (hoped-for) outcomes
The project will:

Identify new directions, theories and methods in environmental social research, with specific regard to the behavioural responses of indigenous / threatened peoples in extreme environments to: (1) extreme climatic variability; (2) resource management; (3) conflicting tourism development strategies.

Demonstrate: (1) the essential importance of an interdisciplinary approach to environmental social science; and (2) that the environment is perceived by indigenous peoples as socio-cultural and not simply a physical entity.

Demonstrate the policy, business and international relevance of environmental social science research within the specific contexts of sustainability, resource management, tourism development strategies, primary commodity extraction, population movement and (re)settlement, international development/aid strategies and regional destabilisation and insecurity.

Provide an assessment of the implications of pending international indigenous rights legislation for current and future development strategies in such environments.

Researchers

Contact Details

Jeremy Keenan
School of Development Studies/Overseas Development Group
University of East Anglia
Norwich NR7 4TJ

Publications

Tourism, Development and Conservation: a Saharan perspective (pdf)