conservation
Rethinking Species Language — Just Language in Ecology Education
The Just Language in Ecology Education “Resources” page is a compilation of articles, media, essays, and books that challenge traditional “native” versus “invasive” species frameworks. Its contents highlight Indigenous perspectives, critiques of xenophobic language in ecology, and proposals for alternative criteria. The collection blends scholarly research, podcasts, videos, and creative writing to encourage reflection on the cultural and political implications of ecological terminology. To learn more, click here.
Unfencing the Future: Voices On How Indigenous and Non-Indigenous People and Organizations Can Work Together Toward Environmental and Conservation Goals
This report aims to inform and support non-Indigenous conservation groups and environmental funders in working with Indigenous communities. The guide emphasizes collaborative relationship built on time, listening, understanding, and a willingness to let go of power and control, moving beyond typical transactional “grants”. It delves into the history of colonization, land theft, and the exclusion of Indigenous peoples from conservation efforts, which created a significant disconnect. To foster successful partnerships, the guide highlights key themes for non-Indigenous organizations: prioritizing genuine relationships, ensuring inclusivity from the design stage, supporting Indigenous leadership in decision-making, and providing flexible, long-term funding. It strives toward “gadugi” (helping each other) and shared environmental and conservation goals, recognizing that Indigenous communities can drive meaningful and collaborative change. To learn more, click the button below.
DownloadDecolonizing Conservation with Prakash Kashwan
This podcast episode challenges the widely accepted perception of environmental conservation as a purely ethical and regenerative movement. Instead, it exposes how the field’s foundational philosophies—shaped by figures like Teddy Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau, and John Muir—are deeply rooted in colonialism, imperialism, and racialized capitalism. These legacies, the episode argues, continue to shape mainstream conservation efforts today. The episode centers around the paper “From Racialized Neocolonial Global Conservation to an Inclusive and Regenerative Conservation,” co-authored by Prakash Kashwan, who is the featured guest. Kashwan explains that many conservation policies unfairly separate Indigenous people from the lands they’ve cared for, leading to harmful practices that promote resource extraction under the guise of wildlife preservation. To learn more, listen to the podcast here.
Why climate action is the antithesis of white supremacy
This article discusses the ideological underpinnings of the climate change movement and white supremacy, arguing that they are fundamentally at odds. The author suggests fighting against means acknowledging the interconnectedness of environmental systems and society whereas white supremacy rests on creating and maintaining difference. For more read here.
Can Native Americans Protect their Land if They’re not Recognized by the Federal Government
This article discusses the challenges that non-federally recognized Native American tribes face in trying to preserve their native lands using examples in California. The author explores the history of how the US government terminated their recognition of 109 recognized tribes in the 1950s and the effect of this policy on the present. They also provide examples of how tribes have negotiated land agreements with the California state government to create land trusts to preserve their land. For more read here.
A Red Deal
This articles introduces the idea of a “Red New Deal” that ties Indigenous liberation into a demand for sweeping environmental changes. The author also reviews how New Deal economic development relied on the displacement of Indigenous communities from their homes and the destruction of their land. They suggest that policymakers must learn from the consequences of past policies and must choose to center indigenous voices in the new environmental movement. For more read here.
Decolonizing Environmental Education
This is a Zine put together that can be used as a tool to begin the work of changing and decolonizing the field of environmental education. The Zine shares personal experiences of POC and Indigenous environmental educators and activists, provides links to numerous articles and resources and offers tools on how to call for systemic environmental justice. For more read here.
Environmentalism’s Racist History
This article in the New Yorker discusses the how racist ideologies are intertwined with the creation of the conservation movement in the early 20th century. It also provides historical links to the present that show how the environmental movement has not focused on the needs of communities of color. For more read here.
The Environmental Movement Needs to Reckon with Its Racist History
This article calls for the contemporary environmental movement to address a deeply imbedded history of racism, which dates back to early conservationists, like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt, who were also white supremacists. They also detail the history of the environmental justice movement and how contemporary environmental organizations and policy goals need to do more to address the tenants of environmental justice. For more read here.
‘Bees, not refugees’: the environmentalist roots of anti-immigrant bigotry
This article discusses a long history of “eco-xenophobia” in America by drawing connections between the motivations behind the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, anti-immigration sentiments in the Sierra Club and early conservationists. For more read here.
Redwoods and Hitler: the link between nature conservation and the eugenics movement
This article explores the often-overlooked links between early 20th century conservation and eugenics. They discuss how three prominent conservationists, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Madison Grant and John C. Merriam, who were responsible for the preservation of the redwoods in California, were also leading figures in eugenic thought. For example, Madison Grant wrote a book called “The Passing of the Great Race”, which Hitler later referred to as his “bible”. For more read here.
Shenandoah National Park Is Confronting Its History
This articles discusses the history of racism and exclusion in American National Parks, in particular at Shenandoah National Park, which had segregated facilities under Jim Crow Laws. The author provides examples of how the National Parks Service is beginning to reckon with this long history of exclusion in their efforts to make National Parks for inclusive. For more read here.