DDIG: Fluid Boundaries: Property, Conservation, and the Global in Andros Island, the Bahamas

Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Brunswick NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Graduate student Sarah Wise, supervised by Dr. Bonnie McCay, will examine how people negotiate ownership of contested space in a region undergoing change from a regionally-managed commons to an internationally-governed protected area. In 2006, The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with other conservation organizations, proposed the West Side National Park (WSNP) on Andros Island, The Bahamas, changing the scale of institutional management from local control to national and international governance. Using language as an analytical lens, this research will explore how residents understand, practice, and talk about ownership of and access to sea resources. There are three central objectives: 1) to examine the emergence of institutions, including behavioral and legal systems of governance, 2) to document how people engage with and talk about the area destined for protection in light of changing legal and social conditions, and 3) to investigate how people use language to negotiate ideas of ownership. During 12 months of field research, the researcher will employ a mixed-methods ethnographic approach to document existing and emerging marine tenure systems through archival research, participant observation, interviews, and participatory mapping. Focusing on scientists, Androsian residents, conservationists, and government officials, the researcher will create a sampling frame of 95 individuals. Semi-structured interviews will be used to document resource use, access and ownership patterns, decision-making processes, and the perceptions of the WSNP. This project will extend social science scholarship on protected area conservation and contribute to ongoing debates about the social effects of environmental decision-making on the very people relying on these resources. Results of this research will be applicable to coastal communities globally, and will facilitate dialogue and greater understanding of the relationships between social and environmental systems concerning important marine resources.