National parks have been a common way of protecting biodiversity, and the model has been spreading around the world since the first national park of the world, Yellowstone, was established in the U.S. more than 130 years ago. However, the concept of national parks has also been criticized, for example as representing a North-perception of the environment that is imposed on the South. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the concept of national parks from a world systems perspective, with a focus on indigenous peoples and local communities, and how they are involved and included in the process. Four persons are interviewed for this thesis: Allan Carlson at WWF in Sweden, Anders Hellberg at Greenpeace in Sweden, Christian Erni at IWGIA, an organization for indigenous peoples rights, and Christian Himmelhuber at the UN climate secretariat UNFCCC, working with a focus on REDD. The research question for the thesis is: To what extent can national parks be considered as a form of colonialism in our time? This thesis discusses the complex question of national parks and environmental protection in times of climate change, and highlights challenges faced by indigenous people and local communities
