Wilderness Areas are Under Threat

2530 Words6 Pages

Examine the ways in which the unique indigenous lifestyles found in

wilderness areas are under threat.

A significant proportion of the world’s population – about 300 million

people – are described as indigenous, or native, peoples. They belong

to a rich and diverse array of cultures spread across the globe.

Indigenous peoples are defined as the descendents of those people who

inhabited an area before it was colonised by Europeans, or before a

modern state was established there. Where groups of indigenous peoples

have survived it is often because they live in extreme geographic and

climatic conditions – very wet or cold, extremely hot or dry. They are

places where colonisers have not wished to settle, and which are so

remote and inaccessible that governments simply have no authority.

They range in size and location from the Scottish Highlands to

Antarctica.

Many indigenous lifestyles that inhabit wilderness areas today have

existed for thousands of years. For example, the Kuku Yalariji people,

one of thousands of Aboriginal Australian tribes in the country, are

believed to have occupied Daintree rainforest for more than 9000

years. These are peoples with a keen sense of their identity and their

historic links with the land. They see their future as bound up with

their environment, and are determined to hold on to their own

languages and cultures. But these are not static societies. Indigenous

people are constantly having to adapt in order to survive, because

their lifestyles are increasingly coming under threat. Improved

technology and affluence in the industrialised world has made

wilderness areas more accessible, so that they are increasingly sought

after by resource developers. This leads to conflicts between

indigenous people, wilderness quality, and the resource developers.

Indigenous peoples’ way of life and control of and access to their

resources and environment has become more pronounced with the

globalisation of the world economy. Indigenous peoples are paying a

high price for tourism. In their drive for profits, transnational

corporations which dominate the international tourist industry have,

with the complicity of governments (particularly those of the Third

World), have devastated the lives and lifestyles of indigenous

peoples. Indigenous peoples have been evicted from their traditional

lands, their cont...

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... Rainforest, concerning the Kuku Yalariji, called for their

“protection.” However, it actually involved European authorities

rounding up Aboriginal groups, removing them from their traditional

homelands, and placing them in missions. This piece of legislation

served only to reduce the human value of the aboriginal people, and

did nothing to protect them.

Not only are the indigenous communities gradually disappearing, so are

the precious wilderness environments that they inhabit. As well as

being of important cultural value, these wilderness areas are also of

significant ecological value, and must be conserved. We must recognize

that biological diversity is by no means evenly distributed over the

surface of our planet, and that much of it is concentrated in a

relatively few biologically rich regions that are often under severe

threat. Clear priorities for conservation action in these regions must

therefore be set. To be successful, strong partnerships must be

established within the conservation community, the indigenous

communities and the private sector. Otherwise, indigenous peoples will

continue to be mere cogs in the wheels of these billion-dollar

industries.

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