Colonialism's Role in Environmental Protection

While reading over environmental issues, many may find a term reappearing in various literature - eco-imperialism. Usually, theories over eco-imperialism boil down to the idea that environmental conservation was an idea that was propagated throughout the world via the spread of European Civilization throughout the world. During the course of the colonialism period, ideas and values from European nations such as Britain, France and Spain were transplanted throughout the world. While there were a number of issues that arose from this mass expansion of a non-native group's ideals, one idea that could be considered helpful was the idea of conservation. 

Many native groups had some sort of reverence for the natural resources they utilized, but through their use of the resources. They may have extracted goods from various ecosystems, but saw that overexploitation would harm them in the long run. Colonists brought the idea of completely setting aside some regions for protection. While they may have clear-cut wooded areas, diverted natural water flows and negatively impact the environment, they saw a value in keeping some areas pristine. This idea differed from native's own "conservation" of the land through using limited amounts and taking just enough as to not permanently damage. It's interesting to note the two different types of environmentalism at play here. On the one hand, traditional conservation seeking to stop all involvement and leaving “pristine” ecosystems behind. On the other, anthropocentric views of environmentalism focus on taking the least amount of resources from an ecosystem to ensure both human needs and ecosystem needs are met. While groups at this time probably didn’t classify themselves as such, they seem to fit these archetypes of environmentalism nicely.

Modern society is influenced by a number of factors, but one of the most telling may be this initial spread of European ideas of “environmentalism.” While European settlers may have introduced the idea of preserving ecosystems, their motivations for exploring the world in general were anything but environmentally conscientious. Colonialism at its core was finding new resources for home countries. Those who explored the world may have had motivations outside of this, but the financial backing usually came from monarchs looking for more power and resources. Columbus’ voyage may have satisfied his own desire to prove his hypothesis, but his trip was paid for by the crown of Spain looking to expand their influence. Once arrived in new locations, colonists needed large volumes of resources including trees, water, arable land, animals and a host of other natural resources.

Even though these colonists may have preached environmental conservation, the main goal of colonialism involved the exploitation of natural resources. As Europeans spread out throughout the world, the demand for natural resources continued. There is a double standard at play – those who claim that colonialism brought environmentalism throughout the world neglect to mention the basis for travel was exploitation of natural resources. The “good” that colonialism spread through its self-described beliefs of environmentalism are far outweighed by the systematic degradation of resources world wide.