Causes and Consequences of Displacement Decision-Making in Banhine National Park, Mozambique
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2008 Causes and Consequences of Displacement Decision-making in Banhine National Park, Mozambique Chad Edward Dear The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Dear, Chad Edward, "Causes and Consequences of Displacement Decision-making in Banhine National Park, Mozambique" (2008). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 174. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/174 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF DISPLACEMENT DECISION- MAKING IN BANHINE NATIONAL PARK, MOZAMBIQUE By Chad E. Dear M.Sc. Geography, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, 2001 B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government, American University, Washington, DC, 1997 Dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry The University of Montana, Missoula, MT Spring 2008 Approved by: Dr. David A. Strobel, Dean Graduate School Dr. Stephen F. McCool, Chair Department of Society and Conservation Dr. Jill M. Belsky Department of Society and Conservation Dr. Wayne A. Freimund Department of Society and Conservation Dr. Jeffrey A. Gritzner Department of Geography Dr. Charles M. Breen Centre for Environment, Agriculture and Development University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Dr. Alan E. Watson Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute © COPYRIGHT by Chad E. Dear 2008 All Rights Reserved Dear, Chad E. Ph.D. May 2008 Forestry Causes and Consequences of Displacement Decision-making in Banhine National Park, Mozambique Committee Chair: Dr. Stephen F. McCool Decision-making is looming regarding the displacement of people resident in and reliant on resources in strict protected areas around the world. This research investigated the causes and consequences of displacement decision-making in Banhine National Park (BNP), Mozambique. I investigated causes using political-economic, actor-centered, and post-structural perspectives on power. I investigated consequences using the Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) framework. Methods included interviews, focus groups, and observations involving BNP-area residents; park staff; district, provincial, and national-level government employees from various sectors; NGO and World Bank staff; and private consultants. I also analyzed numerous government and donor policies, plans, reports, and legal contracts. A major finding is that district-level government officials promoted the displacement of BNP-area residents and their resettlement into villages outside the park. These actions were inconsistent with legal agreements between the Mozambican government and the World Bank regarding the World Bank’s safeguard policy on involuntary resettlement. Factors influencing displacement decision-making included: insufficient coordination; pressure to reduce poverty; a dominant idea that dispersed rural populations should be concentrated; diverging perceptions of the voluntariness of government resettlement efforts; rapid decentralization of decision-making to the district level; and a dominant idea that wildlife would be introduced to BNP, that human-wildlife conflicts were inevitable, and that residents would, therefore, have to move out of the park. In response to these factors, district employees promoted displacement that exposed BNP- area resident to a system of impoverishment risks and for which mitigation was insufficient. Connections between the causes and consequences of displacement decision- making are complex, but are necessary to understand to minimize displacement or to successfully resettle displaced people. Debates regarding inhabited versus uninhabited protected area approaches that do not account for broader and more powerful political factors (such as poverty reduction, decentralization, and villagization agendas) may be of little significance to real decisions regarding displacement. Protected area management agencies and conservation NGOs unaware of or unwilling to address such political factors will likely be held negligent in the poverty caused by displacement decisions. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, thank you to all of the people who participated in the research contributing to this dissertation. Hundreds of people, including Mozambican government officials; NGO and World Bank employees; Mozambican, South African, and U.S. academics; private consultants, and fellow researchers all took time to be interviewed or otherwise help me understand the complex and sensitive issues presented herein. I want to particularly thank the people resident in and around Banhine National Park who, in the midst of personal trauma and great uncertainty, took time to teach me about their lives and livelihoods. A very sincere thank you to my advisor, Stephen McCool, for his challenging questions, pointed critiques, good nature, and unwavering support through the many ups and downs of my Ph.D. program. Thank you as well to the rest of my committee. Thank you to Wayne Freimund for his confidence in me, his calm reassurances, and his amazing ability to garner the financial resources necessary to support this research. Thank you to Jill Belsky for her many substantive contributions to this research and to my intellectual development. Thank you to Charles Breen for his critical and always challenging questions. Thank you also to Alan Watson and Jeffrey Gritzner for their questions, comments and support. And, although not a formal committee member, thank you to Mike Patterson for his genuine concern for my research, my personal development, and my psychological health. Thank you as well to the administration of The University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation, especially Dean Perry Brown and Associate Dean Jim Burchfield. Thank you to the U.S. and Southern Africa students, faculty, managers, and other partners who were part of the Treehouse Program. I gained great benefits from our long- term collaboration. Thank you to USFS International Programs for consistently supporting Treehouse. Thank you to Boaventura Cuamba and Eduardo Mondlane University, and to Simon Munthali and the African Wildlife Foundation for their logistical and other support. Thank you to Conrad Steenkamp for his early encouragement to focus on Banhine National Park. And a special thank you to Celso Inguane whose professional translation and research assistance were invaluable. Thank you to friends and family who supported me in various ways throughout my Ph.D. program. Thank you especially to Paul Lachapelle for being a friend, role model, and recreation partner. Thank you to Rebecca Witter and Theo for helping me through my fieldwork. Thank you to Adam Switalski for providing invaluable recreational distractions. Thank you to my parents, Mary and Ed, for always encouraging me during my many years in graduate school. And finally, I owe tremendous gratitude to my colleague, friend, and life partner, Laurie Ashley. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... x List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I Impending decisions regarding displacement from strict protected areas 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Three approaches to displacement in protected areas .................................................. 2 1.3 The importance of displacement decision-making ...................................................... 4 1.4 The importance of context ........................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research questions ....................................................................................................... 7 1.6 Displacement decision-making in Banhine National Park .......................................... 9 1.6.1 District displacement intentions and contextualized research questions ............ 11 CHAPTER II A framework for understanding the causes and consequences of displacement 2.1 Overview .................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Protected area displacement in a broader context ...................................................... 14 2.3 Choosing and defining terminology .......................................................................... 19 2.2.1