Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna
<p>Within the domain of biodiversity conservation, attrition of Africa’s free-ranging populations of indigenous megafauna is a major concern for both governments and civil society. However, within the current global governance framework, there are conflicting approaches toward conserving Afric...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1817931363386392576 |
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| author | 't Sas-Rolfes, M |
| author2 | Wainwright, L |
| author_facet | Wainwright, L 't Sas-Rolfes, M |
| author_sort | 't Sas-Rolfes, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>Within the domain of biodiversity conservation, attrition of Africa’s free-ranging populations of indigenous megafauna is a major concern for both governments and civil society. However, within the current global governance framework, there are conflicting approaches toward conserving African megafauna, aligned with broader discourses in environmental philosophy. For example, the governments of some African range states view these animals as harvestable natural resources and support utilization practices such as commercial hunting and the sale of live animals and body parts, whereas those practices are strongly opposed by influential international NGOs and, by association, governments of other countries. This results in contested global wildlife trade policies.</p>
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<p>Pursuing a three-paper route, my DPhil thesis examines the nature, causes, and consequences of these conflicting approaches toward conserving African elephants, rhinos, and lions, by drawing on case study material obtained through practical engagements with wildlife trade policy processes. Grounded in a pragmatist approach, my research draws from a broad range of disciplines, strongly informed by institutional analyses and evaluations of the use of evidence. Linking a synthesis of existing institutional theories with a participatory research approach, it employs mixed methods and a multi-stage evaluation design, aimed at providing novel insights into the linkages between social constructs, formal institutions, wildlife trade policy, actor behaviour, and conservation outcomes.</p>
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<p>I find that conflicting trade policies are partly determined by contrasting underlying ideological framings of the nature of the problem to be solved, including three somewhat incompatible overarching policy narratives, which I term Global Control, Decentralized Conservation, and Animal Protection. I further find that the international wildlife trade regime established by the CITES treaty shapes actor behaviour in a way that reinforces dominance of the Animal Protection paradigm over that of Decentralized Conservation. Finally, by analysing a long-term data set relating to rhino conservation outcomes I find that decentralization policies appear to outperform centralized policies such as trade restrictions. I conclude with a synthesis of the findings, discuss the implications thereof, and provide some suggestions for governance reform and further research.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:20:50Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:dac4c238-2114-4750-aa1b-aa1ce76e0c6d |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:20:50Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:dac4c238-2114-4750-aa1b-aa1ce76e0c6d2024-11-05T14:50:30ZConflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafaunaThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:dac4c238-2114-4750-aa1b-aa1ce76e0c6dEconomicsGeographyLawBiodiversity conservationPolitics and cultureInternational relationsEnglishHyrax Deposit2024't Sas-Rolfes, MWainwright, LGarrick, D<p>Within the domain of biodiversity conservation, attrition of Africa’s free-ranging populations of indigenous megafauna is a major concern for both governments and civil society. However, within the current global governance framework, there are conflicting approaches toward conserving African megafauna, aligned with broader discourses in environmental philosophy. For example, the governments of some African range states view these animals as harvestable natural resources and support utilization practices such as commercial hunting and the sale of live animals and body parts, whereas those practices are strongly opposed by influential international NGOs and, by association, governments of other countries. This results in contested global wildlife trade policies.</p> <br> <p>Pursuing a three-paper route, my DPhil thesis examines the nature, causes, and consequences of these conflicting approaches toward conserving African elephants, rhinos, and lions, by drawing on case study material obtained through practical engagements with wildlife trade policy processes. Grounded in a pragmatist approach, my research draws from a broad range of disciplines, strongly informed by institutional analyses and evaluations of the use of evidence. Linking a synthesis of existing institutional theories with a participatory research approach, it employs mixed methods and a multi-stage evaluation design, aimed at providing novel insights into the linkages between social constructs, formal institutions, wildlife trade policy, actor behaviour, and conservation outcomes.</p> <br> <p>I find that conflicting trade policies are partly determined by contrasting underlying ideological framings of the nature of the problem to be solved, including three somewhat incompatible overarching policy narratives, which I term Global Control, Decentralized Conservation, and Animal Protection. I further find that the international wildlife trade regime established by the CITES treaty shapes actor behaviour in a way that reinforces dominance of the Animal Protection paradigm over that of Decentralized Conservation. Finally, by analysing a long-term data set relating to rhino conservation outcomes I find that decentralization policies appear to outperform centralized policies such as trade restrictions. I conclude with a synthesis of the findings, discuss the implications thereof, and provide some suggestions for governance reform and further research.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Economics Geography Law Biodiversity conservation Politics and culture International relations 't Sas-Rolfes, M Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna |
| title | Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna |
| title_full | Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna |
| title_fullStr | Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna |
| title_short | Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: consequences for African megafauna |
| title_sort | conflicting framings in global conservation governance consequences for african megafauna |
| topic | Economics Geography Law Biodiversity conservation Politics and culture International relations |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tsasrolfesm conflictingframingsinglobalconservationgovernanceconsequencesforafricanmegafauna |