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Ecocolonialism, the imposition of European conservation paradigms and power structures on indigenous villagers, is incompatible with the principles of indigenous control of village rainforest preserves. Since 1988, four rainforest reserves in Western Samoa and one US National Park in American Samoa have been created on communal lands using the principles of indigenous control, preserving a total of 30 000 hectares of lowland rainforest and associated coral reef. The reserves in Western Samoa are owned, controlled, administered and managed by the villagers. While these reserves appear to be robust approaches to preserve establishment within the communal land tenure system of Samoa, the concept of indigenous control appears to conflict with ecocolonialist attitudes that disparage the traditional knowledge, culture, political systems, and integrity of indigenous peoples. We discuss problems that have occurred in the Samoan village preserves and offer suggestions for the establishment of future village-controlled preserves in other areas of the South Pacific.
Ua Ie mafai ona fa'afetaui ai Ecocolonialism, o Ie fa'aeega atu ai lea o manatu ma pulega fa'asaoina fa'apalagi, ma Ie fa'amoemoe e pulea fa'asaoina e ali'i ma faipule o nu'u lava ia. E amata i le 1988, uà faatulagaina faasaoga 'ese'ese e fa i Samoa i Sisifo ma le tasi i Amerika Samoa i fanua o aiga ma nu'u e IaIo ifo ai le pulega o tamalii ma faipule, o le aofa'i o ia faasaoga o le 65 000 eka. Ua pulea, faatulagaina, ma faatonuina ai ia faaosaoga i Samoa i Sisifo e faipule ma tamalii o nuu ia. E ui lava ina uà foliga lelei ai ia tulaga, uà tau fete'ena'i ai pulega o matai ma isi manatu faapalagi ae maise manatu faailoga aganuu e fia ta'u vale ai le popoto, aganuu, ma fa'amaoni o ali'i ma faipule atoa ma tagata nu'u o ia fa'asaoina. Ma te fa'amatala atu nisi fa'afitauuli uà o'o mai i fa'asaoina i Samoa ma si'i a'e isi manatu o ma'ua e tusa ai ma le fa'atulagaina o fa'asaoina fa'alenu'u i isi motu o le Pasifika.
INTRODUCTION
ONE of the most urgent conservation causes in the world is the protection of tropical rainforests. The vast rainforests that covered much of the world's tropical land masses have already suffered a 30 per cent reduction and yet the...