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4.3. the Tortoise Taboo: Connection of Knowledge and Practice

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4.3. the Tortoise Taboo: Connection of Knowledge and Practice Table of Contents Tables ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Figures .................................................................................................................................................... 3 List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................................... 9 3. Methodology ...................................................................................................................................... 12 3.1. Operationalization ..................................................................................................................... 12 3.2. Introduction to the case ............................................................................................................. 13 3.3. Conducting interviews, selecting sites and sampling respondents ........................................... 17 3.4. Method of analysis .................................................................................................................... 22 4. Results .............................................................................................................................................. 24 4.1. Description of the research sites and the conservation context ............................................... 24 4.2. The tortoise in Antandroy and Mahafaly society ....................................................................... 33 4.2.1. Ecological knowledge .......................................................................................................... 33 4.2.2. Taboo-related knowledge .................................................................................................... 34 4.2.3. Other tortoise-related beliefs ............................................................................................... 39 4.2.4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 41 4.3. The tortoise taboo: connection of knowledge and practice ....................................................... 42 4.3.1. Taboo content – Repercussions connected to the taboo.................................................... 43 4.3.2. Influential factors from the local societal context ................................................................ 46 4.3.3. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 48 4.4. Madagascar societal context and the tortoise panopticon ........................................................ 50 4.4.1. Conservation practices ........................................................................................................ 50 4.4.2. Appeal of poaching money .................................................................................................. 51 4.4.3. Political instability and corruption ........................................................................................ 52 4.4.4. Foreign aid presence .......................................................................................................... 53 4.4.5. Missionaries and changing religion ..................................................................................... 54 4.4.6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 56 4.5. Community beliefs supporting tortoise conservation ................................................................ 57 4.5.1. Step 1 (Step 2 of SEA): Problem scoping ........................................................................... 57 4.5.2. Step 2 (Step 4 of SEA): Policy options................................................................................ 58 4.5.3. Step 3 (Step 5 of SEA): Key aims & indicators ................................................................... 58 4.5.4. Step 4 (Step 6 of SEA): Impact assessment of options ...................................................... 61 4.5.5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 67 5. Recommendations for (TSA) radiated tortoise conservation ............................................................ 68 6. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 72 7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 79 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 81 1 References ............................................................................................................................................ 82 Appendices ........................................................................................................................................... 88 Appendix 1: Interview guide ............................................................................................................... 88 Appendix 2: Coding categories in Excel, with the connected question(s) in the questionnaire (categories marked orange indicate those that result from analysis of the category they connect to, indicated with the same number) ....................................................................................................... 90 Appendix 3: Schematic overview of the overarching aims, the connecting key aims and their indicators, and the policy objectives and their normalized ranges of impact per indicator ................ 91 Appendix 4: Schematic overview of the exact percentages per indicator per site ............................. 93 Appendix 5: Ranking for multiple correspondence analysis ............................................................... 94 Appendix 6: Final rankings and corresponding weights – missing excluded ..................................... 96 Appendix 7: Final rankings and corresponding weights – missing included ...................................... 97 Appendix 8: Final scores per site ....................................................................................................... 98 Appendix 9 (next page): Opportunities and threats per component of taboo adherence and protective sentiments, and related recommendations per research site. ........................................... 98 Front page design (and other drawings and pictures in this document): Naomi Ploos van Amstel, 2018-2019. 2 Tables Table 1: RHTs’ categories and their function in nature conservation and management (adapted from Colding & Folke, 2001: 586), 4 Table 2: The division in nine research sites, the districts and communes included, and the number of respondents per site, 19 Table 3: Frequency of stories being told among the respondents, 32 Table 4: Percentages of the mentioned beliefs per research site, 37 Table 5: Schematic overview scoping the problem, 56 Table 6: The symbols used to indicate the level of each indicator per site, 60 Table 7: The levels of impact per indicator for each indicator per site, 61 Table 8: Weighted scores per site and related final valuations , 62 Table 9: Weighted scores per site and related final valuations, 63 Table 10: General opportunities, threats, and related recommendations, 69 Figures Figure 1: A visualization of the hypothesis on the working of the tortoise panopticon, showing an assumed interaction between the societal context and the self-surveilling system of the tortoise panopticon, 5 Figure 2: Map showing the South and Southwestern part of Madagascar, including the radiated tortoise’s range as documented in 2000 and the area where the tortoise taboo is historically adopted by local tribes (Paquette & Lapointe 2007: 32), 11 Figure 3: “Map showing focal areas (key communities in the Androy Region, Southern Madagascar” (Ball et al., 2012: 13), 17 Figure 4: Locations of the Fokontany included in the research and indication of the division in nine sites for this research, 18 Figure 5: Division in profession among the research population, 19 Figure 6: Gender division and age distribution of the research population, 20 Figure 8: Frequency of stories being told among the respondents, 32 Figure 9: Antandroy and Mahafaly practices and knowledge placed within the model of the tortoise panopticon., 40 Figure 10: Distribution of perceived human-tortoise conflicts per site, 46 Figure 11: Influencing factors of the societal context and their connection with the self-surveilling system of the tortoise panopticon, 48 Figure 12: The research sites and their final valuations for taboo adherence and protective sentiments, 64 Figure 13: Final model of the tortoise panopticon, showing the bodies of surveilling power, the components of the self-surveilling
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