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Land Justice is at the core of conservation

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Land Justice is at the core of conservation

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One of my biggest takeaways from the Gathering was a theme resonating across all the speakers’ comments: land justice is (or needs to be) at the core of conservation. In her keynote, Parker said it so well: “…sick people = sick land” and she explained direct connections to how racism is killing the planet. One reason that justice is core is because conservation is an “all of us” issue. We are not separate from our environment. There is space and land attached to oppressed and marginalized communities and when people are oppressed, so is the environment. So where do we go from here? How do we better incorporate this core concept into our work? I look forward to hearing from you and continuing our conversations together on this topic.

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Land justice journal and web article resources.

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Ulmus americana     oil pastel by Bill Labich 11/28/21 

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Take-aways about Land Justice and RCPs in particular

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Take-aways about Land Justice and RCPs in particular

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I'm still unpacking my experience of this year's RCP Network Gathering. The speakers' words impacted me deeply.

I realized right there in the Gathering that over the years, I had jettisoned art, poetry, storytelling, and imagining, meeting and listening to people with different perspectives, and working with my hands in order to "get things done" in conservation.

I heard the speakers point out promising directions for themselves and their closest partners. I felt pulled to consider how these ways applied specifically to RCPs. Here's what I came up with as ways RCPs and their members may help advance land justice but understanding that each RCP will have a different path, approach, and set of experiences with land justice work:
* Hire black and brown people
* Increase the capacity of BIPOC-led organizations
* Scale out (not up) success through relationship-building
* Provide access to land and nature to black and brown people, and return land to tribes
* Build authentic trusting relationships with BIPOC individuals
* Use our position and privilege and share power and add value to community member’s lives based on their visions, not ours.
* Be open to the need for healing from the white dominant culture

What did you glean from the Gathering?

I look forward to reading what you share.