From The Nature Conservancy.

• Author: McCormick, Steven J.
• Position: FROM READERS - Letter to the Editor

World Watch's recent article by Mac Chapin, "A Challenge to Conservationists," raises important issues regarding the fundamental need to involve indigenous and traditional communities in conservation efforts.

An open dialogue is critical to strengthening the collaboration among indigenous communities and conservationists.

For more than 50 years, The Nature Conservancy has depended upon partnerships with local peoples to conserve some of the most biologically critical and threatened ecosystems on Earth.

Most of the world's biodiversity exists in areas inhabited by people. The Nature Conservancy knows that effective conservation cannot be achieved unless the people who live and rely on those lands are an integral part of the process.

Among The Nature Conservancy's core values is a "Commitment to People," which states that we "respect the needs of local communities by developing ways to conserve biological diversity while at the same time enabling humans to live productively and sustainably on the landscape."

The Nature Conservancy works in all 50 of the United States, as well as in 28 countries around the world. In more than 30 of those programs--nationally and internationally--the Conservancy is working with indigenous communities to help protect their traditional lands.

From Colombia, where we have helped indigenous tribes reacquire their sacred lands, to Alaska, where we are working with Native Alaskans to incorporate traditional knowledge and subsistence activities into conservation plans, Conservancy employees strive to embody that value in everything they do.

Mr. Chapin's underlying premise--that large international conservation groups are by their very nature incapable of effectively working with indigenous and traditional peoples--is simply incorrect.

Such a premise suggests that any organization working in disparate locations around the world and receiving significant individual, governmental or corporate support should not even attempt to work in areas with indigenous populations for fear of imposing foreign priorities and irreparably harming traditional lifestyles.

On the contrary, organizations of every size should use their resources to reach out to all segments of the world to form partnerships to conserve critical ecosystems.

Mr. Chapin states that "indigenous peoples and conservationists have very different agendas." The reality is that indigenous people and conservationists struggle against many of the same challenges--from...