Fighting for fynbos: The politics of expectation in ethical wildflower

harvesting

Cheryl McEwan, Alex Hughes* and David BekDurham University & *Newcastle University

(cheryl.mcewan@durham.ac.uk)

Introduction:The politics of expectation

STS/sociology of expectation casts light on the politics of sustainability and conservation

The way in which the future is presented is political (Brown and Michael 2003)

How are multiple and competing futures and expectations articulated by diverse actors?

What competing expectations and paradoxes emerge in the ‘commercialization of nature’ (cf. Castree, 2003) for conservation?

The politics of expectation

Conservation constructs expectations by mobilising the future ‘in real time to marshal resources, coordinate activities and manage uncertainty’ (Brown and Michael 2003: 4; see also Borup et al. 2006).

Who constructs expectations and why? How and where do these become enacted, accepted,

institutionalised and/or resisted? How are expectations of nature being commercialised? What are the possible responses if expectations are not

realised?

Case study: biodiversity conservation in South Africa’s Flower Valley

Project: ‘Ethical production in South Africa: Advancing a cultural economy approach’ (Leverhulme Trust 02/01/10 –30/06/12)

Flower Valley Conservation Trust

Flower ValleyUK-based NGO Fauna & Flora International bought Flower Valley Farm (1999)

Flower Valley

Pilot: sustainable wildflower harvesting

Managed by Flower Valley Conservation Trust (FVCT)

Fynsa manages commercial concerns

Aims to:1. ‘Empower people by promoting sustainable and

profitable utilisation of natural resources’ 2. ‘Build human capacity and skills in the farming

and conservation sectors’

1) Government imperatives and political expectations:

Policy shift from ‘fortress’ to community-based conservation

Prioritising non-environmental elements of sustainable development: human rights, BEE & poverty alleviation

Rural communities: poverty, seasonal employment (usually non-contracted), low salaries and poor working conditions

‘Conserving biodiversity and progressively realising rights of all citizens are now expected to be mutually reinforcing.’ (Crane et al. 2009: 145)

2) Role of International ConservationCape Floristic Region (CFR) Fynbos biome unique World Heritage Site Conservation

International: biodiversity ‘hotspot’: ‘the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on earth’

80% in private hands 33% transformed by

agriculture, urbanisation & alien species

20% remains pristine

3) Flower Valley as cause célèbre for conservation interests

Fynmense Flora and Fauna

International; Shell Foundation; Global Environment Fund (GEF)

Marks & Spencer (Plan A: ‘the world's most sustainable major retailer’)

South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI)

Flower Valley: diverse expectations

‘Building an economy based on biodiversity’ (Trevor Sandwith co-ordinator of CAPE, 10/09/06)

‘For some people wild harvesting has been about the conservation of a single species, for others it is about gender empowerment” (Lesley Richardson, Executive Director FVCT, 25/3/10)

Knowledge, technology and sustainable harvesting:

Expectations ‘reflect current conceptions of technological utility’ (Borup et al. 2006: 288) and ‘the tendency of every age to read the future as a fancier version of the present’ (Marvin 1990).

Sustainable wild harvesting through technology, governance and knowledge at the heart of the FVCT’s mission

Knowledge, technology and sustainable harvesting:

Field work by expert botanists (off-take levels)

Species Vulnerability Index Sustainable Harvesting Code of

Practice (SHCP) Training of pickers in SHCP via Agri-

SETA Regulation by Cape Nature Resource Base Assessment (RBA)

system (GIS database)

Creation of knowledge base:

Complex dynamics of fynbos ecology: huge knowledge gaps Lack of certainty about what precisely constitutes

‘sustainable’ harvesting Lack of confidence amongst stakeholders ‘Expert’ knowledge versus ‘local’ knowledge Audit and certification system being developed (sustainable

harvesting); already WIETA certified

‘Why does the global north have the right to set these requirements on other countries. We don’t set requirements for you! They don’t trust us that we are doing it right then?’ (Conservation NGO1, 9/9/10)

Economic expectations:

‘The expectation that harvesting wildflowers could be everything for everyone is certainly not right, you cannot break into the market on that basis, and it does not create jobs’ (Beatrice Conradie, UCT Economist, 9/9/11)

But: M&S contract secured through sustainable harvesting story

150 permanent jobs created

‘How much [local] participation is enough? How many jobs are enough?’ (Conservation NGO2, 15/09/10)

Scaling up? ‘Best technology in the world for looking at… flower

harvesting’, but needs scaling up to be considered successful (Conservation NGO2 15/09/10)

Sustainable wildflower harvesting: a contradiction?

Responses: faith in the RBA database:‘There is nothing like it in the world. The expectation is that this can protect the environment’ (Conservation NGO 15/09/10)

Faith in technology/knowledge not yet fully developed…

Commoditisation amidst poverty: ‘if you won’t have the job in a month’s time, why not take as much as possible?’ (flower supplier 1, 30/09/11)

Commercial expectations: retailers

‘they…thought it was like cut flowers, they wanted a flower that was not growing!’ (flower supplier 2, 22/09/10)

Rely on fixed consumer preferences:‘I thought we were going for the wild, completely natural bunch. In fact when they launched the first bouquet… they absolutely wanted 3 pink flowers so we had to buy from the cultivated... We obeyed for a while, although it was not really policy.’ (Conservation NGO1, 29/09/10)

‘Its wild fynbos… it cannot compare to greenhouse flowers. Those marks are there, they are part of the wild. They say it is not a good thing to export’ (flower supplier 3, 27/09/10)

‘Pure’ and ‘festive’ fynbos (!)

Conclusions Expectations are material: embodied in actors, texts, matter

Flower Valley is creating a new value chain linking the present and future value of ecology.

Expectations are political, diverse and spatialised, and linked into inequities of power and authority in defining futures.

Hope vs. expectation and discourses of failure?

Different levels of trust in expectations: knowledge is key:‘This interpretative flexibility and the social patterning of expectations across communities often arises from asymmetries in access to the information on which expectations are based’ (Borup et al 2006: 292).