Exploring the messages of conservation projects – A qualitative research on the communication of the Green Belt Germany and the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta

Abstract

At the outset of a conservation project, a new purpose is given to a territory - it becomes protected nature. Excluding or including humans in the notion of nature in conservation has implications for the practices of conservation projects, and thus the relationships fostered between humans and non-humans. Besides working with the environment, conservation projects communicate with residents and visitors. Audiences are more than receivers of messages from the projects. They enter into contact with the territories and employees and discourses on nature, science, cultural landscapes, and other ties between humans and non-humans emerge. The goal of this thesis is to explore the messages of conservation projects as part of the discourse on multispecies relationships emerging through communication. I think about these discourses as potentially valuable to discuss attitudes towards the non-human. The qualitative research of this thesis consists of interviews with the employees of two projects, the Green Belt Germany and the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta, a visit to one of the projects, and an analysis of the publications of both projects. This approach allows learning about the discourses from the employees of conservation projects and to confront this with experiences and material made available to the public. I will confront my findings with anthropological texts and literature on communication and the history of conservation.