Red Flags in Green Spaces: Decolonising and Reconstructing Conservation and Protected Areas

Dominant models of nature conservation are rooted in colonial ideologies that displace and attempt to erase Indigenous peoples. This paper critiques the global conservation sector through the lens of the Traffic Light Displacement Model (TLDM), a conceptual framework that illustrates how protected areas perpetuate cycles of philosophical, physical, and violent exclusion. The paper examines how institutions such as the IUCN, NGOs, and colonial governments uphold exclusionary practices under the guise of ecological protection. It critiques the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 30x30 target that risk repeating historical injustices. The paper presents a toolkit for ethical, Indigenous-led conservation, grounded in relational accountability, knowledge co-production, and polycentric governance. Global case studies illustrate the global reach of these dynamics and the resistance movements challenging them. The paper concludes by calling for a shift to relational care and socio-environmental justice. Conservation must be reconstructed as a practice of codesign, justice, and Indigenous sovereignty.