Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Local Effects of Global Conservation Policy: Discourses of Environmental Justice in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, India

自1970年代以来，全球发展界已将保护作为发展议程的一个组成部分，注意到自然资源的退化阻碍了“减轻贫困”的既定目标。与保护和生态系统管理有关的政策兴趣激增，“生物多样性”一词现在在发展话语中无处不在。世界范围内的生物圈保护区和遗产地网络已经建立。虽然人们对保护区对自然系统的影响给予了相当大的关注，但对这些安排对居住在保护区或保护区附近的人们的影响的关注却很少。这个博士论文研究项目旨在了解由联合国等国际机构阐明并由各国政府转化为行动的保护政策如何改变依赖受保护资源的当地社区的生活和生计。它还探讨了当地社区如何抵制这些政策，并努力保持对资源的控制。该项目通过印度喜马拉雅山脉的南达德维生物圈保护区（NDBR）的案例来研究这些问题。NDBR是一大片喜马拉雅荒野，围绕着南达德维峰。1982年，由于旅游业造成的环境恶化，南达德维周围地区对包括当地人在内的所有游客关闭，该地区于1988年成为联合国生物圈保护区。Bhotiya人的生计传统上依赖于对该地区生物资源的利用，封锁影响了他们的生计活动。博蒂亚人现在正努力重新控制NDBR的资源，该资源目前由印度政府和联合国控制。该项目旨在了解Bhotiya人如何看待NDBR政策对其生计和文化的影响。博士生还将试图从政策制定者对自然的看法（这些看法推动了NDBR的管理政策）与Bhotiya的看法有何不同的角度来理解这种冲突。本项目的数据收集涉及使用多个来源。村民们将接受调查，并被要求用一次性相机拍摄“自然”照片。学生将采访重要的代理人，如博提亚领导人和联合国和印度政府官员。Bhotiya、联合国和印度政府制作的文件也将被收集。将使用地理信息系统（GIS）对这些数据进行审查，该系统由记录的采访、档案研究和对摄影数据的分析加以加强。除了通过学术渠道（论文、会议论文和研究出版物）传播学术发现外，学生还将创建一个多媒体地理信息系统数据库，使在该领域收集的数据公开可用。这个项目在两个不同的层面上意义重大。在智力上，它将进一步推动政治生态学与环境正义之间的概念联系。这两个概念都承认在争夺自然资源控制权的斗争中，结构力量和人为因素所起的作用。然而，这两个领域之间的对话有限。多媒体地理信息系统与定性数据源的使用将扩展地理信息系统的定义。这项研究将提供一个例子，说明这两种看似对立的方法如何以一种有用的方式结合起来，以解决有关人与环境关系的复杂问题。更广泛地说，该项目将通过记录和传播全球保护政策的影响和成果，同时给这些人一个讲述自己故事的机会，帮助NDBR人民和其他弱势群体。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Since the 1970s the global development community has adopted conservation as an integral part of the development agenda, noting that the degradation of natural resources inhibits the stated goal of "poverty alleviation." There has been an explosion in policy interest related to conservation and ecosystem management, and the term "biodiversity" now is ubiquitous in the development discourse. A worldwide network of biosphere reserves and heritage sites has been established. While considerable attention has been devoted to the impact of reserves on natural systems, less attention has been given to the impact of these kinds of arrangements on the people who live in or near the reserves. This doctoral dissertation research project seeks to understand how conservation policy as articulated by international agencies like the United Nations and translated into action by national governments is transforming the lives and livelihoods of local communities dependent on the protected resources. It also explores how local communities resist these policies and strive to retain their control over resources. The project examines these issues through the case of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) in the Indian Himalayas. The NDBR is a vast area of Himalayan wilderness surrounding the Nanda Devi peak. The Biosphere Reserve also is home to several thousand tribal residents, mainly ethnic Tibetans known as Bhotiya. In 1982, the area surrounding Nanda Devi was closed to all visitors, including locals, because of environmental degradation from tourism, and the area became a UN biosphere reserve in 1988. The livelihoods of the Bhotiya were traditionally dependent on the use of the biotic resources of the region, and the closure affected their livelihood activities. The Bhotiya now are struggling to regain control over the resources of the NDBR, which are currently under the control of the Indian government and the UN. This project seeks to understand how the Bhotiya perceive that the policies of the NDBR have affected their livelihoods and culture. The doctoral student also will try to understand the conflict in terms of how the policy makers' perceptions of nature, which drive the policies governing the NDBR, are different than the Bhotiya's perceptions. Data collection for this project involves using multiple sources. Villagers will be surveyed and will be asked to take photographs of "nature" with a disposable camera. The student will interview key agents, such as Bhotiya leaders and officials from the UN and Indian government. Documents produced by the Bhotiya, the UN, and the Indian government also will be collected. The data will be examined using a geographic information system (GIS) augmented by the recorded interviews, archival research, and analysis of photographic data. In addition to disseminating scholarly findings through academic channels (dissertation, conference papers, and research publications), the student will create a multimedia GIS database that makes publicly available the data collected in the field.This project is significant on two different levels. Intellectually, it will further the conceptual link between political ecology and environmental justice. Both concepts acknowledge the role of structural forces as well as human agents in the struggle for control of natural resources. Dialogue between the two fields has been limited, however. The use of multimedia GIS with qualitative data sources will expand the definition of GIS. This research will provide an example of how these two seemingly oppositional methods can be combined in a useful manner to address complex questions regarding human-environment relationships. More broadly, this project will help the people of NDBR and other vulnerable populations by documenting and disseminating the effects and outcomes of global conservation policies while giving these people a chance to tell their story. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.