Quirimbas: A society reconfigured by nature

Dominant or western imaginations of ‘nature' have been historically imposed on Southern landscapes, resulting in processes of disruption of socio-ecological relations. By using the Quirimbas National Park in Mozambique as a case study, this thesis seeks to understand how nature has been used as an instrument for the social and political stratification of society. The thesis engages with the social construction of nature and nature assemblage theories to explore how binary approaches to conservation dichotomise ‘nature' and ‘culture' and, in the process, force the reconfiguration of society. It draws on examples of wildlife conservation approaches, territorial planning tools and protected area management policies as separation mechanisms which have been applied to the Quirimbas archipelago (and Mozambique) over the longue durée. Besides redefining the physical environment by turning socio-cultural landscapes into ‘nature blocks' or ‘prisons', separation mechanisms also framed the indígena in relation to how nature was perceived and manipulated by powerful groups. To explore how dominant imaginations of nature have been historically projected onto Mozambican landscapes and what that meant for the Quirimba National Park residents, the research adopted an interpretivist approach which relies on qualitative data. The study primarily draws from participant observation, archival research, interviews and focus group discussions with ‘external' actors including conservationists, historians, researchers, government authorities, NGOs, park authorities, conservation organisations and the private tourism sector, as well as ‘internal' ones which comprised park residents. To understand processes of disruption, the thesis analysed qualitative data from the historical periods covering Portuguese colonial rule from the late 1800s up to Mozambique's independence in 1975, and the post-independence period until the 2020s. The three key findings of the study are that, first, mechanisms used to separate or disrupt the links between ‘nature' and ‘culture' in Mozambique tended to fluctuate over time, but essentially maintained the same goal, which was to interrupt the connectivity between people and the environment. Second, the disruption of ‘nature' and ‘culture' led to the placing of locals into different categories that changed over time, in function of Portuguese colonial interests/perceptions of nature, and/or external conservation narratives. In line with this, locals were either perceived as belonging in the wilderness (i.e. part of the local flora and fauna), excluded from it for being primitive and irresponsible towards nature, or reintroduced back in nature to serve the interests of external actors (i.e. native life used as a product for consumption by tourists). Third, when mechanisms of separation disrupt the links people have with the environment, society is forced to reorganise itself and essential socio-ecological relations are disturbed. That is, while people's lives are not necessarily stopped in the process of separation, they are reconfigured in the process or forced to reorganise themselves and/or their livelihoods every time there is a disruption