Local Knowledge and Environmental Education in Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras

Abstract

Researchers of environmental change in island communities increasingly reimagine resilience. Critical theorists ask whether this trend is a net positive for different populations and non-human natures in these fragile spaces. Engaging these critiques in Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras, a place known for marine-based tourism, in this article, we consider whether it is possible to talk about resilience given the constraints placed on conservation NGOs by neoliberal capitalism. We draw on lessons learned from a conservation NGO/anthropology collaboration to produce environmental education programming. This aims to explicitly incorporate local experiences, memories, and knowledge to consider the possibilities offered by documenting, elevating, and celebrating local knowledge in order to offer ways of rethinking resilience conceptually and in practice.