Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T23:10:51.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Applying Environmental Interpretation in Protected Areas of Developing Countries: Problems in Exporting a US Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Sam H. Ham ,
David S. Sutherland  and
Richard A. Meganck
Sam H. Ham
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Resource Recreation and Tourism, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA
David S. Sutherland
Affiliation:
Coordinator of Environmental Education, Charles Darwin Station, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Richard A. Meganck
Affiliation:
Senior Scientist, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, US Environmental Protection Agency Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, and Coordinator, Caribbean Environment Programme, UNEP Regional Coordinating Unit, 14–20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Interpretation is most effective when its form and content are adapted to the situations in which it will be presented. Although many developed countries have a long and rich tradition of interpretation, the physical, financial, and socio-economic, differences among and within developing nations suggest that this tradition will not always apply there. As our colleagues in developing countries look for interchange and suggestions, the temptation to impose our model—and the difficulty for them to accept it—will be great.

Interpreters in developing countries need to pursue a different model—one which gives relative emphasis to interpretation's role in strategic environmental education for target audiences. Though not altogether excluding the visitor service function that is frequently emphasized in US protected areas, interpretive programmes in many developing countries are often included as just one component of country-wide environmental education master-plans aimed at establishing sustainable development as a national ideology.

Host countries sometimes accept the conventional model too readily, often because the only available training materials are translated from these sources. When application falls short of expectations, in-country interpreters usually blame themselves or conclude that interpretation ‘just isn't for us—rather than questioning the model they have been handed. Universities must also share some of the responsibility for this sorry state of affairs. International students studying at US or European institutions sometimes return home better prepared to work as interpreters in those countries’ protected areas than in those in their own countries. Trainers and teachers, whether working at home or elsewhere, need to do a better job of listening to their students. They need to learn what it is like to be an interpreter in that student's country, and they need to learn what it is like to be part of the audience. Would we accept anything less of our own mentors and interpretive trainers?

Clearly, a superior strategy to exporting our model of interpretation is to assist developing countries in arriving at their own. Over many decades, interpreters in the US and other developed countries have developed a profound knowledge about their craft. Although much of it will not apply everywhere, some of our ideas may have widespread application. The key will be to determine which ones these are. Working with our developed country colleagues, learning with them and through them, we can explore together a range of possibilities that neither of us is able to envision alone. Filtered through our cultures and individual realities, the ideas which have merit will be identified and put to test. Others will be rejected. In the very best scenario, both parties will learn, and sustainable environmental quality will be the result.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , Autumn 1993 , pp. 232 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AED (1989). Education for social development. Academy News, 12(2), pp. 1–3, 5–7. [Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC, USA.]Google Scholar
AED (1990). Nepal: teachers receive training by radio. Academy News, 13(1), p. 7. [Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC, USA.]Google Scholar
Arboleda, J., Orejuela, J., Murgueitio, E. & Click, D. (1989). Memorias del Taller sobre Areas Silvestres y Necesidades Hu-manas. Fundación para la Educacion Superior, Cali, Colombia: 146 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Bajimaya, S. & Fazio, J.R. (1989). Communications Manual: A Guide to Aid Park and Protected Area Managers to Communicate Effectively with Local Residents. Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, FAO-UNDP, Kathmandu, Napal: ii + 146 pp.Google Scholar
Barborak, J.R. & Ham, S.H. (1989). Central American Regional Environmental and Natural Resource Management Project: Environmental Awareness, Protected Areas and Biodiversity Component. Final report to Tropical Research and Development, Inc., Gainesville, Florida, USA: 30 pp.Google Scholar
Batisse, M. (1993). The Silver Jubilee of MAB and its revival. Environmental Conservation, 20(2), pp. 107–12, 4 figs.Google Scholar
Brown, M.T. & Norton, R. (1989). Terrestrial park and recreation plan for the southeast peninsula of St. Kitts/Nevis. Pp. 1–26 in The Southeast Peninsula Project in St. Kitts: Volume III—Parks and Recreation Plans. Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA: v + 50 pp.Google Scholar
Brown, W. (1973). Islands of Hope. National Recreation and Parks Association, Washington, DC, USA: ii + 194 pp.Google Scholar
Budowski, T. (1990). Ecotourism. Tecnitur (San Jose, Costa Rica), 5(27), pp. 28–30.Google Scholar
Bunch, R. (1982). Two Ears of Corn: A Guide to People-centered Agricultural Improvement. World Neighbors, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA: vii + 250 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Calavan, M.M. (1986). Community management in rural northeastern Thailand. Pp. 93–104 in Community Management: Asian Experience and Perspectives (Ed. Korten, D.C.). Kumarian Press, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA: 328 pp.Google Scholar
CONAMA (1990). Estrategia Nacional de Educación Ambiental: Documento de Trabajo. Comisión Nacional del Medio Ambiente, Guatemala City, Guatemala: 15 pp.Google Scholar
Cordell, H.K., Bergstrom, J.C., Hartmann, L.A. & English, D.B.K. (1990). An Analysis of the Outdoor Recreation and Wilderness Situation in the United States: 1989–2040. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report RM-189, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA: v + 113 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Daugherty, H.E. (Ed.) (1989). Perfil Ambiental de Honduras 1989. Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA: xxxii + 346 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Dickinson, J. (1990). Conservation and development. DESFIL Newsletter, 3(4), pp. 1–6. [Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA.]Google Scholar
Dodd, R.E. (1987). Mass Communication Campaigns for Environmental Education in Developing Countries: Honduras Case Study. Masters thesis, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, San José State University, San José, California, USA: viii + 145 pp.Google Scholar
Foster, R.D. (1989). The Potential Fiscal Impact from Southeast Peninsula Development 1989–1994. Report to Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA: i + 27 pp.Google Scholar
Galeano, E. (1973). Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent. Monthly Review Press, New York, NY, USA: 339 pp.Google Scholar
Guier, E.M. (Ed.) (1989). Plan Maestro de Educación Ambiental. Fundación Neotrópica, San José, Costa Rica: 85 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Ham, S.H. (1985). Interpretation Aboard the North Star— the Role of Information Services in Enhancing the Experiences of Cruise Ship Passengers. Exploration Cruise Lines Inc., Seattle, Washington, USA: vi + 76 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Ham, S.H. (1990). Taller de Interpretatión y Educatión Ambiental: Informe Final. US Agency for International Development, Office of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Tegucigalpa, DC, Honduras: 12 pp.Google Scholar
Ham, S.H. & Castillo, L. (1988). Análisis de la Situatión de la Educatión Ambiental en las Escuelas del Area Rural de Honduras. Idaho Forest, Wildlife and Range Experiment Station Publication No. 441, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA: 72 pp.Google Scholar
Ham, S.H. & Castillo, L. (1990). Elementary schools in rural Honduras: problems in exporting environmental education models from the United States. Journal of Environmental Education, 21(4), pp. 27–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ham, S.H. & Enríquez, J.R. (1987). Una Metodología Propuesta sobre Planificación de Interpretatión Ambiental para los Parques Rationales y Areas Similares del Ecuador. Idaho Forest, Wildlife and Range Experiment Station Publication Nr. 310, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA: 88 pp.Google Scholar
Ham, S.H., Sutherland, D.S. & Barborak, J.R. (1989). Role of protected areas in environmental education in Central America. Journal of Interpretation, 13(5), pp. 1–7.Google Scholar
Ham, S.H. & Valencia, I.M. (1990). Bases de la Estrategia de Educatión Ambiental para la Fundación del Centavo: Informe Final. US Agency for International Development, Guatemala City, Guatemala: 16 pp.Google Scholar
Hammond, A.L. (Ed.) (1990). World Resources: A Guide to the Global Environment. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA: xiv + 383 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Ingram, C.D. & Durst, P.B. (1987). Nature-oriented Travel to Developing Countries. Forestry Private Enterprise Initiative Working Paper No. 28, Southeastern Center for Forest Economics Research, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA: vi + 19 pp.Google Scholar
Jackson, I.L. (1989). Conditions and Trends in Caribbean Tourism Influencing the Development of the Southeast Peninsula. Report to Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA: ii + 37 pp.Google Scholar
Jones, L. (1989). Project offers campesinos alternatives. San José, Costa Rica: The Tico Times, 07 14, 33(1024), p. 10.Google Scholar
Kakabadse, Y. (1988). Ecuador: the promise and problems of wilderness in the Third World. Pp. 180–2 in For the Conservation of Earth: Proceedings of the Fourth World Wilderness Congress (Ed. Martin, V.). Fulcrum Press, Golden, Colorado, USA:iii + 418 pp.Google Scholar
Kernan, B. & Ramos, H.H. (1990). Informe Final de los Talleres y la Conferencia sobre Conservatión y Desarrollo. Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA: i + 57 pp.Google Scholar
Leonard, H.J. (1986). Recursos Naturales y Desarrollo Económico en América Central: Un Perfil Ambiental Regional. Informe Tecnico Nr 127, Centra Agronómico Tropical de Investigatión y Enseñanza, San José, Costa Rica: [not available for checking].Google Scholar
Lindberg, K. (1991). Polities for Maximizing Nature Tourism's Ecological and Economic Benefits. International Conservation Financing Project Working Paper, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, USA: ix + 37 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, J., MacKinnon, K., Child, G. & Thorsell, J. (Eds) (1986). Managing Protected Areas in the Tropics. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland: xvi + 263 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
McNeely, J.A., Miller, K.R., Reid, W.V., Mittermeier, R.A. & Werner, T.B. (1990). Conserving the World's Biological Diversity. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland; World Resources Institute, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund-US, and the World Bank, Washington, DC, USA: 193 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Medina, G. (1989). Campesinos and Conservation: Joining Forces Through Environmental Education. World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC, USA: 7 pp.Google Scholar
Meeker, J.W. (1973). Red, white and black in the national parks. North American Review (Fall), pp. 3–7.Google Scholar
Meganck, R.A. (1991). Coastal parks as development catalysts: a Caribbean example. Ocean and Shoreline Management Journal, 15(1), pp. 25–36, illustr.Google Scholar
Meganck, R.A. & Goebel, J.M. (1989). Building bridges of understanding about the tropics: an opportunity for interpreters. Journal of Interpretation, 13(4), pp. 8–15, illustr.Google Scholar
Miller, K.R. (1982). Parks under seige: people … or wildlife? International Wildlife, 12(6), pp. 32–4.Google Scholar
Mishra, H.R. (1984). A delicate balance: tigers, rhinoceros, tourists and park management vs. the needs of the local people in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Pp. 197–205 in National Parks, Conservation and Development: The Role of Protected Areas in Sustaining Society (Eds McNeely, J.A. & Miller, K.R.). IUCN/Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA: xiii + 825 pp.Google Scholar
Mudge, S. (1989). Recommendations of the USAID/FEPROTUR Nature Tourism Working Group. US Agency for International Development, Office of Natural Resources, Quito, Ecuador: 21 pp.Google Scholar
Nash, R.F. (1988). Why wilderness? Pp. 194–201 in For the Conservation of Earth: Proceedings of the Fourth World Wilderness Congress (Ed. Martin, V.). Fulcrum Press, Golden, Colorado, USA: iii + 418 pp.Google Scholar
Nations, J.H. & Leonard, H.J. (1986). Grounds of conflict in Central America. Pp. 55–98 in Bordering on Trouble: Resources and Politics in Latin America (Eds Maguire, A. & Brown, J.W.). Adler and Adler Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA: xii + 448 pp.Google Scholar
Peters, C.M., Gentry, A.H. & Mendelsohn, R.O. (1989). Valuation of an amazonian rainforest. Nature (London), 339(6227), pp. 655–6.Google Scholar
Rogers, E.M. & Shoemaker, E.F. (1971). Communication of Innovation: A Cross-cultural Approach. The Free Press, New York, NY, USA: xix + 476 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Shelton, N. (1989). MAB notes. Park Science, 9(4), p. 14.Google Scholar
Tilden, F. (1957). Interpreting our Heritage. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA: xviii + 120 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
UNESCO. (1987 a). UNESCO-UNEP international congress on environmental education and training. Connect, 12(3), pp. 1–8. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France.Google Scholar
UNESCO (1987 b). The international environmental education program. Connect, 12(4), p. 1. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France.Google Scholar
UNESCO (1991). From awareness to action via nonformal environmental education. Connect, 16(1), pp. 1–3. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, France.Google Scholar
US Geological Survey (1987). National Wilderness Preservation System. [Map and data.] US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, USA: 1 p., illustr.Google Scholar
Werner, D. (1980). Donde No Hay Doctor. Hesperian Foundation, Palo Alto, California, USA: xxviii + 420 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Werner, D. & Bower, B. (1982). Helping Health Workers Learn: A Book of Methods, Aids and Ideas for Instructors at the Village Level. Hesperian Foundation, Palo Alto, California, USA: xii + 583 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Wilson, M.A. & Laarman, J.G. (1987). Nature Tourism and Enterprise Development in Ecuador. Forestry Private Enterprise Initiative Working Paper Nr 27, Southeastern Center for Forest Economics Research, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA: iv + 22 pp.Google Scholar
Wood, D.S. & Wood, D.W. (1987). How to Plan a Conservation Education Program. International Institute for Environment and Development/US Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of International Affairs, Washington, DC, USA: 47 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
World Resources Institute (1990). World Resources 1990–91. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, USA: xiv + 383 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Wright, R.G. (1984). The challenges for interpretation in the new Alaskan parks. Journal of Interpretation, 9(1), pp. 39–46.Google Scholar