National Parks and social involvement - an argument

Abstract

Discrimination, whether institutionalised or not, is described as the expression of prejudice, which, it is argued, is derived from projectionism, or the supposition that one's own perception coincides with reality and is therefore the only valid one. It is the result of naive ignorance of the world view(s) by which human attitudes are shaped. By means of the ecologically congenial concepts of interrelatedness and holism, it is here argued as an alternative that social involvement is (or, should be) an intrinsic part of conservation. A possible model for the purpose and some practical considerations are suggested.