Open AccessAsian Elephant Conservation: Too Elephantocentric? Towards a Biocultural Approach of Conservation
Author(s) -
Nicolas Lainé
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
asian bioethics review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1793-8759
pISSN - 1793-9453
DOI - 10.1007/s41649-018-0070-z
Subject(s) - mainstream , elephas , asian elephant , conservation psychology , environmental ethics , ethnography , geography , sociology , population , ecology , environmental resource management , political science , anthropology , biology , biodiversity , economics , philosophy , demography , law
Drawing from the example of Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) conservation in Laos, this article primarily intends to reveal the elephantocentric vision adopted by mainstream conservation project in direction to the species. In the second part, I will present some ethnographic notes collected among local population who daily live and work with pachyderms. These notes will help in opening up a broader and more ecocentric approach of elephant conservation by highlighting links between biological and cultural diversity. By revealing the cosmo-ecological view of elephants as thought locally, I will then propose an enlarged vision of elephant conservation.