Doctoral Dissertation Research: Contesting Maasai Livestock-Herding and Saving Kenyan Wildlife in Creating Amboseli National Park

本项目将研究参与非洲保护区野生动物保护的利益相关者之间的历史关系。她将在肯尼亚的安博塞利国家公园进行研究。在安博塞利保护科学的科学文献的基础上，这项研究将通过研究科学家，野生动物管理者和居住在公园周围的人口（主要由马赛人组成）的观点，增加一个新的历史分析维度。这项研究将提供一个广泛的范围，从1940年到现在，研究保护政策的变化，以及他们是如何接受和实施的马赛人口。本研究的目的是了解保护对马赛人生计的影响，以及保护科学如何受到当地知识体系的影响。本计画将透过口述历史、参与者观察及档案文件分析来分析这种关系。这将是该地区第一个利用科学家和当地马赛居民的民族志来了解国家和国际保护政策对当地影响的项目。这种方法将有助于分析养护对那些往往因贫穷而被边缘化的群体的生活产生的更深层次的影响，这些群体的牧民生活方式往往因与养护相冲突而受到批评。潜在的更广泛的影响这项研究对发展以社区为基础的保护计划，设计社会影响研究和了解当地知识体系的科学权威具有影响。地方和国家当局将深入了解土地使用政策的长期影响，以及如何规划干旱管理，同时考虑到肯尼亚南部这一萨凡纳地区和其他生物多样性脆弱地区的养护需要和当地社区的可持续生计。

IntroductionThis project will examine the historical relationships between stakeholders involved in wildlife conservation in protected areas of Africa. She will conduct research in Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Building on the scientific literature regarding conservation science in Amboseli, this research will add a new dimension of historical analysis by examining the perspectives of scientists, wildlife managers, and the population living around the park, comprised largely of Maasai. This research will provide a wide scope, from 1940 to the present, for examining changes in conservation policies and how they were received and implemented by the Maasai population. Intellectual Merit The purpose of this research is to understand the impact of conservation on Maasai livelihoods and how conservation science was influenced by local knowledge systems. This project will analyze this relationship through oral histories, participant observation, and archival document analysis. This will be the first project in this region utilizing ethnographies of scientists as well as local Maasai residents to understand the local impact of national and international conservation policies. The methodology will allow for analysis of the deeper influence of conservation on the lives of groups of people who are often marginalized through poverty and whose pastoralist lifestyle is often critiqued for conflicting with conservation. Potential Broader Impacts This research has implications for developing community-based conservation programs, designing social impact research, and understanding scientific authority regarding local knowledge systems. Local and national authorities will gain insight into the long-term implications of land use policies and how to plan for drought management that takes into account both conservation needs and sustainable livelihoods of local communities, both in this savannah region of southern Kenya and other regions with fragile biodiversity.