ECOCOLONIALISM AND INDIGENOUS-CONTROLLED RAIN-FOREST PRESERVES IN SAMOA

Several village-based preserves have been established in Western Samoa that are owned, controlled and managed by the villagers. Although the se preserves appear to be a robust approach to rainforest conservation , their establishment resulted in significant conflicts between the vi llagers and the Western NGOs that assisted in raising funds for the pr eserves. The principles of indigenous control were unexpectedly diffic ult to accept by western conservation organizations who, ultimately, w ere unwilling to cede decision-making authority to indigenous peoples. Conversely, ecocolonialism, the imposition of western conservation pa radigms and power structures on indigenous peoples, proved to be incom patible with indigenous concepts of conservation and human dignity. Ev en well-intentioned conservation efforts by NGOs may fail if there is an unwitting disparagement of the traditional knowledge, culture, poli tical systems, and integrity of indigenous peoples. Similar conflicts may occur in other areas with traditional land-tenure systems and stra tegies are needed to avoid such problems in the future.