Green Entanglements: Nature Conservation and Indigenous Peoples' Rights in Indonesia and the Philippines

Green Entanglements is a comparative, multisited ethnography of the on-the-ground dynamics of nature conservation projects working in cooperation with or co-optation of indigenous peoples in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is based on fieldwork conducted from 2003 to 2005, alternating between the Kalanguya of Tawangan in the Philippine province of Benguet, the Ngaju Dayak of Baun Bango in the province of Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, and the agents of conservation working with each community. Both indigenous groups live or work within the bounds of national parks...Green Entanglements slots into the debate on indigenous peoples and human-environmental relationships. It challenges the prevalent ahistorical understanding of indigenous peoples as noble green primitives living in harmony with nature. Indigenous peoples' lives are constrained by these kinds of narratives. Hover, to say that they are not actually stewards of the environment is also simplistic and unhelpful. This book looks at indigenous peoples' needs and aspirations and changing environmental practices in the context of globalization and contemporary economic pressures and politics. It asks: how are indigenous peoples' relationships with the environment played out, and what is the impact of nature conservation on their everyday lives? Instead of focusing only on indigenous people, this books also examines the assumptions, actions, and methods of agents of conservation working with indigenous communities.- From the Preface