Gecko translocalities. The negotiation of social and ecological values in human-animal relations between Germany and the Indian Ocean

壁虎跨域性。

• 批准号: 418026224
• 负责人: Dr. Lisa Jenny Krieg
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Geographisches Institut
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2017-12-31 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/418026224?language=en
• 关键词: Gecko; translocalities.; negotiation; social; ecological

Phelsuma day geckos are globally mobile animals: protected as endangered species on their islands of origin; they are fought and killed as invasive species on other islands, or exported to Europe, where the small, colourful geckos are popular terrarium pets, especially in Germany. With the “purity” of fauna and flora as a guiding principle, nature conservationists kill invasive species to protect endemic Phelsuma-geckos. Following colonial narratives of a lost paradise, they try to restore “pristine” landscapes, free of non-native species.This proposal for a continuation of funding builds on 1.5 years of research on the mobility of geckos and humans in Germany and the Indian Ocean that focused in particular on how value is ascribed to or revoked from geckos. Working with ethnographic methods in Germany and on islands of the Western Indian Ocean (La Réunion, Mayotte, Mauritius), I explored how Phelsuma day geckos are embedded in discourses about value, mobility, and belonging in the spheres of nature conservation and terraristics.Continuing the research project I propose here is meant to facilitate on the one hand a field trip to Mauritius that had to be cancelled due to Covid-19, and on the other hand to allow me to delve deeper into two aspects: the role of digital technologies in nature conservation, and the narrative of the “lost paradise”, a central narrative in Mauritian nature conservation.In terms of methods, a combination of virtual ethnography and ethnographic field research in the Western Indian Ocean will be employed.Digital technologies are of increasing significance in nature conservation, and also in the context of Phelsuma geckos in the Indian Ocean. Especially the animals’ smallness renders algorithmic pattern identification or data collection about invasive geckos through smartphone applications particularly relevant. Here, I want to explore the nexus between the mobility of digital data about geckos and the movement of actual geckos in relation to discourses of the value of nature.On Mauritius, Phelsuma geckos are part of complex enterprises of “ecological restoration”, aimed at rebuilding what are deemed to be authentic ecosystems. Paleontological excavations, conservation measures, and artistic illustrations of extinct fauna and flora merge to become a potent mix – connected by speculative elements. Thus, they manifest narratives of paradisiacal pasts and shape possible futures. Informed by colonial narratives of a “lost paradise”, I want to explore these speculative narratives and their political power in more depth.These new directions would contribute to a deeper understanding about how Phelsuma geckos are embedded translocally into historically grown narratives, especially in the context of the attribution or revocation of value in socio-ecological discourses.

日本壁虎是全球性的移动的动物：在其原产地的岛屿上作为濒危物种受到保护;在其他岛屿上，它们作为入侵物种被捕杀，或者出口到欧洲，在那里，小而多彩的壁虎是受欢迎的饲养宠物，特别是在德国。自然保护主义者以动物和植物群的“纯净”为指导原则，杀死入侵物种，以保护特有的壁虎。在殖民地时期，他们讲述了一个失落的天堂，试图恢复“原始”的景观，没有非本地物种。这一继续资助的建议建立在对德国和印度洋壁虎和人类流动性的一年半研究的基础上，特别关注壁虎的价值是如何被赋予或撤销的。在德国和西印度洋岛屿上使用民族志方法（毛里求斯马约特岛留尼汪岛），我探索了费苏马日壁虎如何融入自然保护和恐怖领域关于价值、流动性和归属感的话语中。继续我在这里提出的研究项目的目的是一方面促进毛里求斯的实地考察，由于Covid-19而不得不取消，另一方面也让我可以深入探讨两个方面：数字技术在自然保护中的作用，以及“失去的天堂”的叙事，这是印度尼西亚自然保护的核心叙事。在方法上，将采用虚拟民族志和西印度洋民族志实地研究相结合的方法。数字技术在自然保护中的重要性越来越大，以及在印度洋的大壁虎的环境中。特别是动物的小使得通过智能手机应用程序进行关于入侵壁虎的算法模式识别或数据收集特别相关。在这里，我想探讨壁虎的数字数据的流动性和实际壁虎的运动与自然价值话语之间的联系。在毛里求斯，壁虎是复杂的“生态恢复”企业的一部分，旨在重建被认为是真实的生态系统。古生物学发掘，保护措施，以及灭绝的动物和植物群的艺术插图融合在一起，成为一个由投机元素连接的强有力的混合体。因此，它们体现了对天堂般的过去的叙述，并塑造了可能的未来。通过对“失落的天堂”的殖民叙事的了解，我想更深入地探讨这些推测性叙事及其政治力量。这些新的方向将有助于更深入地理解壁虎是如何跨地域地嵌入到历史发展的叙事中的，特别是在社会生态话语中的价值归属或撤销的背景下。