Adde Sharp
Faculty Sponsor: Matt Samson
This study employs a comparative ethnographic approach to examine how the creation of two Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) in the Peruvian Amazon, the Bahuaja Sonene National Park (PNBS) and the Tambopata National Reserve (RNTAMB), compromise the food sovereignty of three indigenous Amazonian communities known as the Ese Eja people. Semi-structured interviews with community members and government officials are used to compare the ancestral food system before the creation of the two NPAs and the present food system. My prior research affirms that, due to the new restrictions and entry requirements imposed upon the protected areas, especially the RNTAMB, the indigenous communities are both food insecure and lack sovereignty over their daily diets. As a result, the customary daily diet has changed considerably, contributing to dramatic increases in diseases such as anemia and malnutrition. The results also indicate that, although the creation of the NPAs has fundamentally altered the lives and typical diet of the Ese Eja people, they are supportive of the environmental preservation. The obvious discord between the current conservation practices and the compromised well-being of the communities is a product of the way “conservation” is defined and executed. The Ese Eja people view environmental conservation in a more holistic manner, employing sustainable-use practices and actively monitoring and tending to the natural resources they rely upon. Government imposed conservation practices do not recognize the Ese Eja Nation’s ancestral rights to the NAPs, defining conservation as natural areas with limited or no human entry. Finally, the Ese Eja people are not adequately equipped with alternatives for sustaining themselves, such as agriculture, further contributing to their insecurity and lack of food sovereignty.
This study employs a comparative ethnographic approach to examine how the creation of two Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) in the Peruvian Amazon, the Bahuaja Sonene National Park (PNBS) and the Tambopata National Reserve (RNTAMB), compromise the food sovereignty of three indigenous Amazonian communities known as the Ese Eja people. Semi-structured interviews with community members and government officials are used to compare the ancestral food system before the creation of the two NPAs and the present food system. My prior research affirms that, due to the new restrictions and entry requirements imposed upon the protected areas, especially the RNTAMB, the indigenous communities are both food insecure and lack sovereignty over their daily diets. As a result, the customary daily diet has changed considerably, contributing to dramatic increases in diseases such as anemia and malnutrition. The results also indicate that, although the creation of the NPAs has fundamentally altered the lives and typical diet of the Ese Eja people, they are supportive of the environmental preservation. The obvious discord between the current conservation practices and the compromised well-being of the communities is a product of the way “conservation” is defined and executed. The Ese Eja people view environmental conservation in a more holistic manner, employing sustainable-use practices and actively monitoring and tending to the natural resources they rely upon. Government imposed conservation practices do not recognize the Ese Eja Nation’s ancestral rights to the NAPs, defining conservation as natural areas with limited or no human entry. Finally, the Ese Eja people are not adequately equipped with alternatives for sustaining themselves, such as agriculture, further contributing to their insecurity and lack of food sovereignty.
