Revisiting Eden: Rethinking the Eden Narrative in Conservation Scholarship

For decades, conservation scholarship has problematised the ‘Edenic’ narrative invoked within early British discourses of nature and practices of conservation. Specifically, scholars have suggested that colonial conceptions of ‘wilderness’ as a veritable ‘Garden of Eden’, especially in places such as Eastern and Southern Africa, helped to legitimize the ideological and physical separation of nature and people, in part leading to the creation of the first conservation areas and subsequent socio-political impacts. This article does not contest that assertion. However, this article does seek to make three contributions. First, we suggest that while colonial conceptions of Christianity are integral to the formation of early conservation mechanisms, the use of Edenic language by both British colonists, and subsequently in the critical conservation-related literature, is problematic. Second, despite the abundance of conservation-related literature engaging with the concept of Eden, a theological analysis is lacking. Thus, we seek to provide an interpretation of Eden based on an exegesis of chapters one and two of the Book of Genesis in dialogue with other relevant Biblical passages. Third, based on this exegesis, we suggest how our interpretation of Eden can inform the future of conservation theory and practice by positing some characteristics of an Edenic conservation.