ABSTRACT

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book concludes with the "globalisation" of the tropical rainforests. It shows that places once regarded as small and obscure corners of the world, such as Marovo Lagoon, have now become centres of a bitter struggle for their resources, involving a myriad of local and non-local perspectives. Narratives in the sense are ways in which problems can be standardised, and are the means towards a justification of equally standardised solutions. The case of Marovo Lagoon shows that the narratives of environmentalism have now diversified, in line with worldwide developments, and a particular new turn is emerging. Small-scale logging and eco-tourism can be seen as constituting new narratives which have hidden roots in the metaphor of biosphere crisis but find a more immediate justification in the metaphor of sustainable development.