Making knowledge and making ‘pristineness’ in the Manu National Park, Peru

Keywords: Political Ecology, Manu National Park, Wilderness, Conservation, knowledge hierarchies
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 14

Abstract

The remote forests of the Manu river basin, in the Peruvian Amazon, hold record-breaking levels of biodiversity and a significant variety of ecosystems, which have been historically inhabited by several groups of Indigenous people. Nonetheless, the richness of the non-human elements of Manu’s ecosystems led to the discursive construction of this space as a ‘pristine wilderness’ where nature without people could be studied to facilitate the ‘restoration’ of disturbed areas of Amazonia. This is the contradiction upon which the Manu National Park was established and is still a major element in its management, as well as the source of its most significant dilemmas. Understanding the meaning that this place has for conservation practitioners will allow me to comprehend how they make sense of this complex situation and work towards their vision of the future of this conservation space. Through a Political Ecology framework, my doctoral thesis will clarify how the notion of ‘wilderness’ continues to be a crucial element in conservation practice, as well as in the often unjust power relations this practice implies. I have achieved this by applying critical discourse analysis to online interviews, documents, media, social media posts and participants’ own photographs, as well as including elements of my own personal experience as a conservation practitioner in Manu. In this chapter, I explore how the tensions and power relations between the Western knowledge communities that study this place reflect the way Manu’s ‘pristineness’ is constructed, contested and re-constructed, but maintains its discursive dominance.