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Abstract:
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"Whether we like it or not, debate on environmental protection is still trapped in western categories with detrimental implications for the lives and well being of indigenous communities. One does not need to look far to understand some of the principles underlying the basic tenets of the conservationists faith. For instance, the well known slogan think globally and act locally, appears to be based on the assumption that the whole of humanity strives for a common goal, that is the protection of the world's natural system. Of course, I am not disagreeing with the noble objective of saving the Earth. This is something that every citizen of the world should strive for! What I am questioning here are notions such as 'respect' and 'responsibility for' the environment regarded by conservationists as universal, and thus applicable crossculturally. My two decades experience with the Batak of Palawan (the Philippines) tells me a different story."
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