Conservation and Subsistence in Small-Scale Societies

Abstract

Some scholars have championed the view that small-scale societies are conservers or even creators of biodiversity. Others have argued that human populations have always modified their environments, often in ways that enhance short-term gains at the expense of environmental stability and biodiversity conservation. Recent ethnographic studies as well as theory from several disciplines allow a less polarized assessment. We review this body of data and theory and assess various predictions regarding sustainable environmental utilization. The meaning of the term conservation is itself controversial. We propose that to qualify as conservation, any action or practice must not only prevent or mitigate resource overharvesting or environmental damage, it must also be designed to do so. The conditions under which conservation will be adaptive are stringent, involving temporal discounting, economic demand, information feedback, and collective action. Theory thus predicts, and evidence suggests, that voluntary conservation is rare. However, sustainable use and management of resources and habitats by small-scale societies is widespread and may often indirectly result in biodiversity preservation or even enhancement via creation of habitat mosaics.

Water and sustainable land use at the ancient tropical city of Tikal, Guatemala

“…Archeology is in a position to recognize lowtechnology adaptations-as assessed by current measures of technology-systems noted for their resilience and sustainability over deep time and based on their reduced impact on the biophysical environs. Today, these simple systems are consistent with conservation efforts (36) and warrant attention in situations less accommodating of Western technological breakthroughs or access to limited-even unobtainable-energy sources. Perhaps by assessing the adaptive behaviors of our distant human ancestors and their engineered landscapes, we can better inform our own suite of environmental options and degrees of resilience for the future.…”

Sustainability from the Perspectives of Indigenous Leaders in the Bioregion Defined by the Pacific Salmon Runs of North America

“…Further, Hames' conclusion is based predominantly upon evidence from the post-contact era, which could have been responsible for the breakdown of those systems that facilitated conservation, a possibility Hames cites himself. The conclusions drawn by Hames (2007) and Smith and Wishnie (2000) appear to place little weight in the emic data such as oral histories, which may speak to but lack physical demonstration of conservation by design. Whether indigenous peoples of the region lived sustainably due to circumstance or by design is a difficult question to answer empirically, leaving it open to continued debate.…”

“…Sustainability entails long-term and enduring use of resources without collapse of those resources, while conservation demands intentionality in conservative use of resources, or sustainability by design (Smith & Wishnie, 2000). Reviews by Smith and Wishnie (2000) and Hames (2007) conclude that examples of sustainability are widespread, but it appears uncommon that Native peoples intentionally practiced conservation. They argue that with some exceptions (e.g., Hunn et al, 2003), sustainability was likely a result of low population density, technological limitations, and minimal external consumer demand.…”

Sustaining Sanak Island, Alaska: A Cultural Land Trust

“…A polarized alternative argument states that indigenous peoples actively modify their environment for their own short-term gains at any cost to the environment [79,80]. A middle ground approach suggests that while people rarely set out to conserve their resources, sustainable use by small-scale indigenous societies is widespread and may even preserve biodiversity [81]. The Aleutian environment is a mixture of intensely harvested natural resources subject to a wide range of users, both resident and transient; resources that are purely subsistence harvested at low levels; and resources not used by humans at all but are part of these broader interactions.…”