Hunter-gatherers, conservation and development: from prejudice to policy reform

Communities of present-day or former hunter-gatherers live in scattered communities across the world, although their precise numbers and status are very uncertain. Their often marginalised status and ethnolinguistic diversity has made it hard to articulate their case for land rights outside Australia and North America. Their preferred subsistence strategy, hunting, is often in direct conflict with conservation philosophies and protected areas often fall within their traditional hunting areas. This paper reviews their present situation and discusses some of the proposed strategies for incorporating them into more conventional natural resource management strategies.Policy conclusions: Hunter-gatherer or foraging peoples dominated much of the world until recently, but the last few centuries have seen them marginalised almost everywhere. The rapid spread of both agriculture and livestock production has seen their traditional lands alienated and their main sources of subsistence decimated. However, just as there is an increasing realisation that pastoral peoples are efficient users of marginal environments and need to be protected from encroachment by outside interests, it is becoming apparent that foragers need similar assistance. Since the 1970s, these communities have begun to fight back, especially in the area of land rights. The establishment by Canada on 1st April, 1999 of Nunavut, a self-governing territory for the Inuit the size of western Europe, represents a major political and economic breakthrough for foragers. Elsewhere, notably in Africa, India, SE Asia and Siberia, rights and access to land continue to be eroded.Development agencies have a poor record of interest in foragers, partly because their preferred way of life is so much at odds with conventional development strategies. However, the recent prioritisation of poverty and marginalised peoples has refocused attention towards them, without however, any corresponding policy development.In principle, foragers and conservationists ought to cooperate since both have a strong interest in habitat preservation and sustainable harvesting of wild resources. In practice the two groups have often found themselves in opposition. Effective progress will be made towards more appropriate systems of access and land rights if better ways for these two groups can work together.[author]