The limits of largess: International environmental NGOs, philanthropy and conservation.

摘要

This dissertation is about the globalization and privatization of environmentalism that has taken place over the last few decades. These forces have transformed conservation into a multi-million dollar global industry dominated by non-governmental, nonprofit environmental groups. International interest in conservation has grown remarkably in response to dramatic stories of species extinctions and widespread deforestation---often as told by NGOs. There is a sense of urgency underlying these accounts because the overwhelming majority of the world's biological diversity is found in developing countries, which rarely have the financial capacity to adequately manage natural areas where many rare and endangered species are found. In response, individuals, corporations, philanthropic foundations, and bi-lateral development aid agencies have given millions of dollars to international environmental non-governmental organizations (IENGOs) to support their conservation programs. Using a case study of The Nature Conservancy and some of its projects in Ecuador, I critically examine the capacity of IENGOs to address the challenges posed by Third World conservation. I argue that private conservation efforts have two sets of structural limitations. The first set of constraints, which I call 'institutional,' pertains to characteristics inherent to NGOs such as their inability to make and enforce environmental laws. The second group of limitations, referred to here as 'financial,' is related to the dependency of NGOs on contributors necessitating the continual need to market projects and causes to donors with fluctuating interests and levels of commitment. Ultimately, the reliance of IENGOs on their major donors influences what these organizations can do and leads to a need to create projects that satisfy a constituency foreign to project sites. I also argue that relying on NGOs to provide environmental management in developing countries rests on assumptions based on the successes achieved by such civil society groups in places like the U.S. This approach has serious shortcomings in Ecuador where the state is weak and the socio-political context within which NGOs function most effectively is absent. Finally, understanding IENGOs and their activities reveals much about broader concerns raised by an era in which a free market, neo-conservative ideology predominates and states are viewed skeptically.