The Anomalous is Ubiquitous: Organizations and Individuals in Papua New Guinea’s Conservation Efforts.

This dissertation examines the inner workings of large conservation organizations implementing marine conservation projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It seeks to understand how organizations, conservation professionals and local community actors shape conservation processes and outcomes. I argue that conservation effects vary from the intentions of managers and project staff, resulting in conservation projects and outcomes that continuously differ from imagined and intended effects. I consider this variation from multiple levels, from decision-making and project design at international, national, and field offices to projects implemented in local communities. I analyze how organizational processes shape the actions and behaviors of conservation professionals through an examination of monitoring and evaluation processes across multiple levels of an international conservation organization (Chapter Two). I consider the emergence of gaps between intentions and outcomes by examining the effects of a “governance-at-a-distance” management style, highlighting five key factors that contribute to this type of management style (Chapter Three). I then track the decision-making processes of staff at international, national, and field offices who define and implement marine conservation projects to explore how their actions shape conservation practice and knowledge (Chapter Four). This analysis illustrates contrasting staff preferences, suggests ontological differences in how individual conservation actors conceptualize objectives versus tools and conservation versus development, and proposes three reasons why managers may support the production of ignorance. Finally, I explore how individuals come to care about conservation and how their attitudes and beliefs translate into particular actions and behavior that support environmental protection (Chapter Five). I show the emergence of positive environmental attitudes among Pere villagers in Manus Province, PNG while also highlighting villagers’ ongoing challenges in enforcing management area rules.PhDNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100044/1/csbenson_1.pd