University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School January 2012 Mangroves, Mudbanks and Seawalls: Political Ecology of Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Suriname Ravic Nijbroek University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Climate Commons, and the Geography Commons Scholar Commons Citation Nijbroek, Ravic, "Mangroves, Mudbanks and Seawalls: Political Ecology of Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Suriname" (2012). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4184 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mangroves, Mudbanks and Seawalls: Political Ecology of Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Suriname by Ravic P. Nijbroek A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography and Environment Science and Policy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Pratyusha Basu, Ph.D. Kevin Archer, Ph.D. Martin Bosman, Ph.D. Rebecca Johns, Ph.D. Michael Miller, Ph.D. Date of Approval: April 27, 2012 Keywords: Discourse, Power, Knowledge, Coastal Management, Climate Change Copyright © 2012, Ravic P. Nijbroek DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my mother Linda Jacqueline Asin, who instilled in me the values of hard work, humility, and speaking for the voiceless. She passed away too soon and was not able to join me in celebrating this accomplishment. May this degree help me to continue her work on critical pedagogy. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In somewhat chronological order, I wish to thank Kevin Archer for the weekly conversations back in 2006 that resulted in a turning point in my life. I thank Martin Bosman for introducing me to human geography and Rebecca Johns for teaching me to live my life as if my hair is on fire. Michael Miller has been supportive throughout this process, and I have much appreciated the passed down wisdom. I most appreciate the continuous support and trust that I have received from Pratyusha Basu. I thank her for always reminding me that we do what we do to empower the marginalized and powerless. Many friends eased my hectic life, and I wish to thank them for the great conversations we shared during seminars, lunch, or happy hour: Bob and Jim, Shawn, Marilyn, Nicole, Andy and Alison, John and Ivee, and many more from the ultimate frisbee community and the Studio@620. To my closest friends Dana and Becky: thanks for being there when we needed you most. Along the way, my employers have always been supportive and I wish thank Tony Janicki at Janicki Environmental and my supervisors at Conservation International, Annette Tjon Sie Fat and Emily Pidgeon, for giving me the room to pursue this goal. Further, this research would not have been possible without the generous support of the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship. Lastly, my family has made many sacrifices for me to achieve this goal, and I do hope that the fruits of our combined efforts taste as sweet as the mangoes in Commewijne. Robin, Norah, Grayson and Iris, I could not have done this without your endless support and love. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 Research Questions ..................................................................................................3 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODS ........................................8 Introduction ..............................................................................................................8 Climate Change Adaptation .....................................................................................8 Normative Adaptation ................................................................................11 Resilience and Adaptation .........................................................................12 Vulnerability and Adaptation .....................................................................15 Political Ecology ....................................................................................................16 Poststructural Turn .....................................................................................19 Research Methods ..................................................................................................20 Semi-Structured Interviews .......................................................................21 Archival Research ......................................................................................22 Discourse Analysis.....................................................................................23 Development Histories...............................................................................24 Research Sites ........................................................................................................25 Positionality ...........................................................................................................30 CHAPTER THREE: DISCOURSES OF SEA LEVEL RISE AND MANGROVE DESTRUCTION .......................................................................................................35 Introduction ............................................................................................................35 Sea Level Rise Discourses .....................................................................................37 In Situ “Sea Level” Data ............................................................................45 Variables that Determine Local Sea Levels ...............................................49 Mangrove Destruction Discourses .........................................................................50 Mangrove Rehabilitation ...........................................................................60 Conclusions ............................................................................................................63 iii CHAPTER FOUR: HISTORIES OF DEVELOPMENT AND DEPENDENCE..............67 Introduction ............................................................................................................67 Historical Development of Suriname.....................................................................68 Historical Development of Coronie .......................................................................71 Land of Milk and Honey ............................................................................75 Towards Coronie’s De-Isolation and Suriname’s Independence ...........................78 Political Independence and Representation ...............................................79 Development and Independence Aid .........................................................80 Increased Dependence on Paramaribo .......................................................84 Conclusions ............................................................................................................86 CHAPTER FIVE: COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES ON COASTAL MANAGEMENT ......................................................................................................89 Introduction ............................................................................................................89 Overview of Coastal Management in Suriname ....................................................93 Integrated Coastal Zone Management .......................................................96 Linking Coastal Management with State and Local Perspectives .........................97 Perspectives of the State ............................................................................97 Local Perspectives in Coronie ...................................................................99 Local Perspectives in Weg Naar Zee .......................................................103 Importance and Limits of Local Knowledge .......................................................110 Importance and Limits of Scientific Knowledge .................................................112 Conclusions ..........................................................................................................114 CHAPTER SIX: POLITICS OF SEAWALL CONSTRUCTION ..................................117 Introduction ..........................................................................................................117 Cost of Adaptation ..............................................................................................118 Adaptation Costs in Suriname .................................................................120 Adaptation and Electioneering .............................................................................126 International Political Pressure ................................................................126 The Challenge of Normative Adaptation .............................................................128