3.2.12 (HL)—Environmental justice in conservation

Environmental justice asks who gets benefits, who bears costs, who decides and whose rights or knowledge count.

A protected area can conserve habitat while imposing livelihood or cultural losses on displaced communities. Fairer approaches secure rights, informed participation, remedies and benefit-sharing or co-management.

The Maasai around the Serengeti illustrate the justice issue: conservation relocation or access restrictions can protect habitat while removing people from land that supported food, livelihoods and culture. The audit must examine rights, consent, decision power, remedies and benefit-sharing.

Participation is meaningful only when affected communities can influence decisions and their rights, losses and remedies are addressed before implementation.

A broad conservation benefit does not cancel unequal local costs or make displacement automatically fair.