I am interested in exploring human-nature relationships in capitalist societies and the potential for radical and decolonial post-capitalism alternatives. Within this, I am particularly interested in the geopolitics of international financial flows and their impacts on the governance of nature and space, as well as local impacts and opposition.

The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a growing issue in the Americas, where counter wildlife trafficking (CWT) action mobilises a complex network of actors and policy. Non-governmental organisations, donors, multilateral agreements, the Peruvian government and the Peruvian people all play a part in the success or failure of CWT in Peru. The tensions and structures mediating the relationships between these actors shape the kind of actions that are prioritised to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, and hence their impacts both on wildlife and people.

My research explores power and discourse in a budding context of CWT conservation action in Peru from a cross-scalar perspective involving four levels: donors, non-governmental organisations, government, and local people. It analyses the impacts of funding and framings of IWT in the implementation of conservation programmes, and how these impact national and local politics and interact with local perceptions. This will allow me to identify spaces of accumulation of power and recommend ways in which powerful stakeholders can make conservation more just.