The protection of Nature: problems, methods and historiography

Abstract

Protected areas, in addition to their natural and scientific importance, are a reflection of the set of cultural values and perceptions of the society that has decided to preserve them. The protection of nature is thus a complex issue; it must be considered in a holistic way and with a historical perspective, to give visibility to the, often latent, environmental conflicts that characterize the processes of these spaces being officially designated. This historiographic and methodological proposal is framed within environmental history, and relies on tools from this field and other related areas, such as political ecology, environmental anthropology and geography, which enable an examination beyond accepted natural and scientific values of these places which focuses on the more human and social aspects of the processes involved in the designation of a protected natural area. It is, therefore, an interdisciplinary approach to an intrinsically interdisciplinary issue, as any environmental issue is, the protection of nature being one of them.