Ambivalent Conservation: Negotiating Socio-Environmental Justice in Postsocialist Romania

This article examines the ambivalence of conservation in the Hârtibaciu Highlands, in postsocialist Romania, where aspirations for socio-ecological transformation coexist with the reproduction of existing inequalities, as environmental conservation actors aim to reconcile biodiversity preservation with rural revitalization. Building on contemporary conservation literature, our study illustrates how tensions within and between NGOs, framed as part of the “new” conservation debate, can reproduce extractivist practices even when promoting convivial conservation principles. Methodologically, the article relies on a case study conducted in the Hârtibaciu Highlands (Central Romania), drawing on 40 interviews with peasants, activists and officials. We propose the concept of ambivalent conservation as a framework to understand the complex and contradictory dynamics of contemporary conservation, where efforts for social and environmental justice often contradict economic and political structures.