Beautiful and ugly animals in Kenya Maasailand: why beauty matters for biodiversity conservation in Africa

Abstract

Consideration for how humans aesthetically value biodiversity is mostly absent in conservation discourse and practice in the Global South. This contrasts with industrialized countries where this non-economic dimension of human- environmental relationships has been integrated in conservation policies. Conservation practice in sub-Saharan Africa has been dominated by notions of conflict and strategies coupling conservation with economic development. Here, I compare the role of aesthetic appreciation of biodiversity in conservation in the North and the South and scrutinize why research on aesthetic valuation of wildlife by members of African rural communities is rare. Then, based on the case of the aesthetic dimension in the relationship between Maasai and wildlife, I discuss implications for conservation in sub-Saharan Africa related to aesthetic valuation of biodiversity. Deeper engagements of anthropology with conservation science are needed to uncover how positive non-economic dimensions of human-wildlife relationships can be harnessed into the design of conservation strategies that more fully reflect and respect the perceptions and experiences of people who live with wildlife.