The role of conservation organizations in the construction and implementation of the international conservation agenda for emblematic species : the case of Sumatran orangutan

La thèse analyse le rôle des organisations de conservation dans la contradiction croissante entre, d’une part, la formalisation continue d’un cadre politique - juridique - institutionnel - financier - médiatique pour la conservation de l’orang-outang de Sumatra et, d’autre part, le constat avéré du déclin continu de son habitat et de ses populations. Partant du niveau global, elle se concentre ensuite dans le contexte indonésien, porteur d’un conflit aigu autour de la transformation de la forêt de basse altitude -habitat de l’orang-outan de Sumatra- en culture de palmier à huile.Le rôle des organisations de conservation sont étudiées à travers quatre dimensions sociologiques : l’établissement des référentiels globaux de conservation, la construction scientifique des indicateurs de référence, la mise en œuvre du droit indonésien et l’application de l’accord volontaire du RSPO.La thèse a trouvé des réponses concluantes pour chaque dimension et transversalement. Sans minimiser le rôle de l'état et du secteur privé, les ONG jouent aussi un rôle décisif dans le maintien du problème. Deux constantes sont observées : l'une est leur difficulté à tenir compte de la société qui abrite les populations d'orangs-outans, l'autre est leur propension à privilégier leurs propres intérêts afin de perdurer dans le champ social au détriment de leur objectif initial de conservation. Se préoccuper à ces deux manquements est le défi contemporain de la conservation. Des pistes sont donc données dans la conclusion pour refondre la gouvernance internationale de la conservation et pour redéfinir stratégiquement le rôle des ONG de conservation. Cette thèse est basée sur près de vingt ans d'expérience dans la gestion de l'environnement - à la fois pour des organisations de conservation et les Nations Unies - et 49 entretiens semi-directifs.The thesis analyses the role of conservation organizations in the growing contradiction between, on the one hand a continuous and regular formalisation of a framework (political - legal - institutional - financial - media) for Sumatran orangutan conservation, and on the other hand, a proven report of the continuous decline of orangutan habitat and populations. Starting at the global level, the thesis then focuses on the Indonesian context that gives rise to an acute conflict centred on lowland primary tropical forest - the exclusive habitat of Sumatran orangutans - being converted into large-scale oil palm plantations. The role of conservation organizations has been studied through four sociological dimensions: i) the establishment of global paradigms for conservation, analysing in particular the Great Ape Survival Partnership - GRASP; ii) the "scientific" construction of reference indicators that characterise the orangutan; iii) the establishment and implementation of law at Indonesian level; and iv) the application of the voluntary agreement Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - RSPO. The overall understanding of the role of NGOs is then given by the cross- analysis of the results under these four angles. The thesis has found articulated and conclusive answers for each dimension. Without underestimating the role of the state and the private sector, the cross-analysis shows that NGOs also play a decisive role in maintaining the problem of habitat loss and the decline of emblematic species, in particular the Sumatran orangutan. Two concomitant constants are observed. One is their difficulty to productively engage with the society that supports the wild orangutan populations. The other is their tendency to prioritize their own interests to perpetrate in the social and political sphere at the expense of their initial conservation objectives. To address these two structural shortcomings is the contemporary challenge for conservation. In the conclusion, suggested paths are given, both to reform international biodiversity governance and to strategically reorient the role of conservation organizations. The thesis is based on information gathered during twenty-years of experience in environmental protection - both in the United Nations and conservation organisations - and 49 semi-structured interviews

Le rôle des organisations de conservation dans la construction et la mise en œuvre de l'agenda international de conservation d'espèces emblématiques : le cas des orangs-outans de Sumatra

The thesis analyses the role of conservation organizations in the growing contradiction between, on the one hand a continuous and regular formalisation of a framework (political - legal - institutional - financial - media) for Sumatran orangutan conservation, and on the other hand, a proven report of the continuous decline of orangutan habitat and populations. Starting at the global level, the thesis then focuses on the Indonesian context that gives rise to an acute conflict centred on lowland primary tropical forest - the exclusive habitat of Sumatran orangutans - being converted into large-scale oil palm plantations. The role of conservation organizations has been studied through four sociological dimensions: i) the establishment of global paradigms for conservation, analysing in particular the Great Ape Survival Partnership - GRASP; ii) the "scientific" construction of reference indicators that characterise the orangutan; iii) the establishment and implementation of law at Indonesian level; and iv) the application of the voluntary agreement Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - RSPO. The overall understanding of the role of NGOs is then given by the cross- analysis of the results under these four angles. The thesis has found articulated and conclusive answers for each dimension. Without underestimating the role of the state and the private sector, the cross-analysis shows that NGOs also play a decisive role in maintaining the problem of habitat loss and the decline of emblematic species, in particular the Sumatran orangutan. Two concomitant constants are observed. One is their difficulty to productively engage with the society that supports the wild orangutan populations. The other is their tendency to prioritize their own interests to perpetrate in the social and political sphere at the expense of their initial conservation objectives. To address these two structural shortcomings is the contemporary challenge for conservation. In the conclusion, suggested paths are given, both to reform international biodiversity governance and to strategically reorient the role of conservation organizations. The thesis is based on information gathered during twenty-years of experience in environmental protection - both in the United Nations and conservation organisations - and 49 semi-structured interviews.La thèse analyse le rôle des organisations de conservation dans la contradiction croissante entre, d’une part, la formalisation continue d’un cadre politique - juridique - institutionnel - financier - médiatique pour la conservation de l’orang-outang de Sumatra et, d’autre part, le constat avéré du déclin continu de son habitat et de ses populations. Partant du niveau global, elle se concentre ensuite dans le contexte indonésien, porteur d’un conflit aigu autour de la transformation de la forêt de basse altitude -habitat de l’orang-outan de Sumatra- en culture de palmier à huile.Le rôle des organisations de conservation sont étudiées à travers quatre dimensions sociologiques : l’établissement des référentiels globaux de conservation, la construction scientifique des indicateurs de référence, la mise en œuvre du droit indonésien et l’application de l’accord volontaire du RSPO.La thèse a trouvé des réponses concluantes pour chaque dimension et transversalement. Sans minimiser le rôle de l'état et du secteur privé, les ONG jouent aussi un rôle décisif dans le maintien du problème. Deux constantes sont observées : l'une est leur difficulté à tenir compte de la société qui abrite les populations d'orangs-outans, l'autre est leur propension à privilégier leurs propres intérêts afin de perdurer dans le champ social au détriment de leur objectif initial de conservation. Se préoccuper à ces deux manquements est le défi contemporain de la conservation. Des pistes sont donc données dans la conclusion pour refondre la gouvernance internationale de la conservation et pour redéfinir stratégiquement le rôle des ONG de conservation. Cette thèse est basée sur près de vingt ans d'expérience dans la gestion de l'environnement - à la fois pour des organisations de conservation et les Nations Unies - et 49 entretiens semi-directifs

Dossier: « Patrimoines, savoirs, pouvoirs » – Construire la nature comme un patrimoine mondial : la fabrique scientifique de l’orang-outan à Sumatra (Indonésie)★

Cette recherche vise à comprendre la construction de la nature comme un héritage mondial, particulièrement pour l’orang-outan à Sumatra, puis à en expliquer les implications concrètes. Un ensemble cohérent d’éléments plaident pour la conservation des orangs-outans : un habitat concentré sur des terres impropres à l’agriculture, des croyances locales restées vives et l’existence d’aires protégées. Pour autant, les scientifiques internationaux, intimement liés au mouvement de la conservation, se sont engagés dans une patrimonialisation de l’orang-outan. Ce travail de patrimonialisation entretient une perception de rareté et d’extinction imminente en construisant et mobilisant des indicateurs (nombre, tendance, répartition, rareté) basés sur des modèles complexes. Il conforte aussi leur hégémonie sur la production des savoirs, élude les principaux facteurs explicatifs et rend impossible la coexistence pratique entre l’humain et l’orang-outan

Towards global voluntary standards: Questioning the effectiveness in attaining conservation goals: The case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

International audienceGlobal voluntary agreements, such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), have emerged as alternatives to apparent State failure to enforce law. This research questions how effective RSPO is in attaining its claimed conservation goals especially regarding orangutans, as this is central to justifying its existence. The study found five shortcomings explaining poor outcomes regarding the protection of the forest area, and especially the orangutan habitat: financial compensation too small, too much room for interpretation in the guidance document, postponement on contentious issues, non-integration of RSPO within the socio-politico-legal Indonesian context and finally the lack of effective external control system. As these shortcomings complement each other, the effectiveness of the scheme is dramatically reduced for biodiversity conservation, and is almost zero for species such as Sumatran orangutan that needs large forested areas. Conservation of biodiversity, and especially orangutans, will require oil palm sector reform. This would include reincorporating the state into the scheme and changing the approach supporting local development in a sound socio-ecological regional planning. Covering a period of seven years, the study analyses the RSPO'swork in the context of the acute conflict resulting from Sumatran orangutan habitat conversion to oil palm plantations

Le rôle des organisations de conservation dans la construction et la mise en œuvre de l'agenda international de conservation d'espèces emblématiques (le cas des orangs-outans de Sumatra)

La thèse analyse le rôle des organisations de conservation dans la contradiction croissante entre, d une part, la formalisation continue d un cadre politique - juridique - institutionnel - financier - médiatique pour la conservation de l orang-outang de Sumatra et, d autre part, le constat avéré du déclin continu de son habitat et de ses populations. Partant du niveau global, elle se concentre ensuite dans le contexte indonésien, porteur d un conflit aigu autour de la transformation de la forêt de basse altitude -habitat de l orang-outan de Sumatra- en culture de palmier à huile.Le rôle des organisations de conservation sont étudiées à travers quatre dimensions sociologiques : l établissement des référentiels globaux de conservation, la construction scientifique des indicateurs de référence, la mise en œuvre du droit indonésien et l application de l accord volontaire du RSPO.La thèse a trouvé des réponses concluantes pour chaque dimension et transversalement. Sans minimiser le rôle de l'état et du secteur privé, les ONG jouent aussi un rôle décisif dans le maintien du problème. Deux constantes sont observées : l'une est leur difficulté à tenir compte de la société qui abrite les populations d'orangs-outans, l'autre est leur propension à privilégier leurs propres intérêts afin de perdurer dans le champ social au détriment de leur objectif initial de conservation. Se préoccuper à ces deux manquements est le défi contemporain de la conservation. Des pistes sont donc données dans la conclusion pour refondre la gouvernance internationale de la conservation et pour redéfinir stratégiquement le rôle des ONG de conservation. Cette thèse est basée sur près de vingt ans d'expérience dans la gestion de l'environnement - à la fois pour des organisations de conservation et les Nations Unies - et 49 entretiens semi-directifs.The thesis analyses the role of conservation organizations in the growing contradiction between, on the one hand a continuous and regular formalisation of a framework (political - legal - institutional - financial - media) for Sumatran orangutan conservation, and on the other hand, a proven report of the continuous decline of orangutan habitat and populations. Starting at the global level, the thesis then focuses on the Indonesian context that gives rise to an acute conflict centred on lowland primary tropical forest - the exclusive habitat of Sumatran orangutans - being converted into large-scale oil palm plantations. The role of conservation organizations has been studied through four sociological dimensions: i) the establishment of global paradigms for conservation, analysing in particular the Great Ape Survival Partnership - GRASP; ii) the "scientific" construction of reference indicators that characterise the orangutan; iii) the establishment and implementation of law at Indonesian level; and iv) the application of the voluntary agreement Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - RSPO. The overall understanding of the role of NGOs is then given by the cross- analysis of the results under these four angles. The thesis has found articulated and conclusive answers for each dimension. Without underestimating the role of the state and the private sector, the cross-analysis shows that NGOs also play a decisive role in maintaining the problem of habitat loss and the decline of emblematic species, in particular the Sumatran orangutan. Two concomitant constants are observed. One is their difficulty to productively engage with the society that supports the wild orangutan populations. The other is their tendency to prioritize their own interests to perpetrate in the social and political sphere at the expense of their initial conservation objectives. To address these two structural shortcomings is the contemporary challenge for conservation. In the conclusion, suggested paths are given, both to reform international biodiversity governance and to strategically reorient the role of conservation organizations. The thesis is based on information gathered during twenty-years of experience in environmental protection - both in the United Nations and conservation organisations - and 49 semi-structured interviews.TOULOUSE2-SCD-Bib. electronique (315559903) / SudocSudocFranceF

The little impact, at most, to control rainforest destruction of the voluntary standards, such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm-Oil

International audienc

The Strategies and Effectiveness of Conservation NGOs in the Global Voluntary Standards: The Case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

[Departement_IRSTEA]Territoires [TR1_IRSTEA]DTAM [ADD1_IRSTEA]Adaptation des territoires au changement globalInternational audienceConservation nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and firms have been promoting global voluntary standards, such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), to produce environmentally responsible goods in tropical countries. This research seeks to understand the strategies and the effectiveness of conservation NGOs with respect to the RSPO. The authors' research documents that the conservation NGOs, when engaging with the RSPO, may be divided into four categories based on the type of resources mobilised and the conservation goals: (1) 'Collaborative' ones seek to change the system from within by providing scientific research-based information, by holding strategic positions and by creating rules; (2) 'Opponent' ones remain outside the RSPO while using it as a platform for public campaigns; (3) 'Opportunistic' ones focus on conserving geographical areas by adopting either collaborative or opponent strategies to reach their goals; and (4) 'Sceptic' ones support communities to secure local land rights. Such NGOs have implemented strategies that strengthened RSPO's institution. Nevertheless, the institutionalisation of the RSPO prevents the NGOs from reaching their goals for three reasons: (1) individual NGOs cannot change a strategy; (2) NGOs using different engagement strategies are unable to collaborate; and (3) the sceptic NGOs are structurally excluded from the RSPO, though local land rights are a fundamental matter of concern for biodiversity conservation. The NGOs would be more effective in reaching their goals either by focussing on their initial conservation objectives or by strategically collaborating with each other outside the structure of the RSPO

Les effets territoriaux des normes internationales

International audienceGlobal private sustainability standards in agriculture today govern a range of commodities produced in the tropics. Our study analyses the most well-established of these standards, namely the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We show how, far from being a market device restricted to re-organising global markets in palm oil, RSPO standardisation has wider consequences spatially re-distributing power with territorial effects. Territorialisation occurs through two processes: a strategic and operational process linked to the fabrication and application of procedural rules; a socio-technological process linked to the valorisation of managerial approaches to sustainability. Over time, these twin processes have institutionalised a transnational political space of action with territorial properties. These include: new frontiers of political authority de-bordering national jurisdiction (geographically connecting local scale oil palm estates and plantations with a transversal global supply chain stretching from producing to consuming countries); historical connection; internal coherence and imposition of managerial practices and discourses, including managerial constructions of interdependencies between people, nature and artefacts; prime beneficiaries (large southeast Asian growers, international environmental NGOs and (mainly) European downstream firms); marginalised people (independent smallholders and communities in Malaysia and Indonesia). In this manner, RSPO reinforces its political power and authority over a managerial form of sustainability of palm oil production through territorialising it. Ultimately, this transnational political space of action comes into interaction (and, potentially, conflict) with other political spaces of action and territorial projects as pursued by local people, other NGOs or Malaysian and Indonesian state governments