Hottest of the Hotspots: The Rise of Eco-precarious Conservation Labor in Madagascar

Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot with intensive market-based conservation interventions, including drug discovery, biodiversity offsetting, and blue carbon credits. It highlights the tensions between local communities and conservation efforts, as many of these programs rely on the same biodiversity that is now being commodified. The book proposes critiques to build better conservation interventions with perspectives of the local eco-precariat.

Format: Hardback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 28 November 2023
Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Madagascar, often referred to as the "hottest" biodiversity hotspot on Earth, has become a focal point for intensive market-based conservation interventions. This book explores the implementation of market conservation programs, including the discovery of drugs from nature (bioprospecting) and the selling of blue carbon credits from mangroves. It highlights the tensions that arise at the local level, where many of these programs involve populations that rely on the same biodiversity that is now being commodified for conservation purposes. Proponents of market conservation often mobilize groups of ecologically precarious workers, known as the "eco-precariat," who perform the hidden work of collecting and counting species, monitoring biodiversity, and enforcing regulations related to drug discovery, carbon sequestration, and large mining company offsets. This book aims to provide a voice for these community workers, who are often left out of environmental policy discussions, and proposes critiques that aim to build better conservation interventions with perspectives from the local eco-precariat.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780816542383