Conservation science and ecophilanthropy in the Iberá Wildlife Reintroduction Program

• In Event: Show me the money! Science and Technology in the Age of Mega-Philanthropy

Abstract

In the last decades, the American philanthropists Douglas and Kristine Tompkins have become the main financiers of conservation efforts and protected areas in Argentina and Chile. Through land donations and the allocation of financial and expert resources, the private operating foundation The Conservation Land Trust (CLT), founded by the Tompkins, has promoted the establishment of several National Parks and conservation programs in Argentina and Chile.
In this paper, I focus on CLT’s initiative to create what will be the largest protected area in Argentina: The Iberá National Park. In particular, I examine the Iberá Wildlife Reintroduction Program, which represents the first case of rewilding in a southern country. The aim of this program is to reverse the local extinction of species and produce socio-economic changes through ecotourism in the Iberá area. By focusing on the relationships between scientists, state agencies and private capital, I analyze how this conservation program enables the valorization of nature and the reproduction of capital in places where business opportunities did not exist until recently. Ultimately, I aim to shed light on how species are conceptualized as value, and how value is appropriated and distributed through bioeconomic projects.

Author

• Emiliano Martin Valdez, CONICET / Centro de Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad Universidad Maimonides