TY - JOUR

T1 - A story of “communities”

T2 - boundaries, geographical composition and social coherence in a forest conservation project, Northern Cambodia

AU - Pasgaard, Maya

AU - Nielsen, Tania Fredborg

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Explicit notions of “communities”, as key actors in conservation and development projects across theGlobal South, are common. Narratives about “indigenous people” or “forest-dependent communities”in forest conservation programmes prevail, portraying a picture of “communities” as homogeneousand harmonious entities. In this study, we unfold “communities” as a construct with an empiricalexample of a community-based forest protection project, Northern Cambodia. Based on qualitativeinterviews, field observations and document analysis, we examine the “community” construct interms of establishment of boundaries, geographical composition and social coherence. We not onlyfind that the establishment of forest “community” boundaries are dominated by powerful externalactors rather than the “community members” themselves, but that the spatial composition of“communities” is complex, and affects the ability of local people to benefit from the project. We alsofind that the studied “communities” show low levels of social coherence and mainly consist of migrantfarmers, as opposed to common policy narratives. Taking these inconsistencies into account, wediscuss implications of constructing “communities” for the success of forest conservation projects,and argue in favour of more discursive and political analyses to better understand, acknowledgeand adapt to existing and changing conditions in present and prospective project locations

AB - Explicit notions of “communities”, as key actors in conservation and development projects across theGlobal South, are common. Narratives about “indigenous people” or “forest-dependent communities”in forest conservation programmes prevail, portraying a picture of “communities” as homogeneousand harmonious entities. In this study, we unfold “communities” as a construct with an empiricalexample of a community-based forest protection project, Northern Cambodia. Based on qualitativeinterviews, field observations and document analysis, we examine the “community” construct interms of establishment of boundaries, geographical composition and social coherence. We not onlyfind that the establishment of forest “community” boundaries are dominated by powerful externalactors rather than the “community members” themselves, but that the spatial composition of“communities” is complex, and affects the ability of local people to benefit from the project. We alsofind that the studied “communities” show low levels of social coherence and mainly consist of migrantfarmers, as opposed to common policy narratives. Taking these inconsistencies into account, wediscuss implications of constructing “communities” for the success of forest conservation projects,and argue in favour of more discursive and political analyses to better understand, acknowledgeand adapt to existing and changing conditions in present and prospective project locations

U2 - 10.1080/00167223.2016.1182440

DO - 10.1080/00167223.2016.1182440

M3 - Journal article

VL - 116

SP - 134

EP - 146

JO - Geografisk Tidsskrift

JF - Geografisk Tidsskrift

SN - 0016-7223

IS - 2

ER -