The anthropologist’s work around a national park

There are animals and plants in the park that some institutions want to protect and to conserve. There are people around the park who want to use the soil for agriculture and the plants and animals for food, constructions, medicine, ceremonies and so on. (the photo shows the bicycles of poachers that have been confiscated by the park administration)

This is the reason for quite a lot of conflicts between farmers and ranchers and the park administration, between the eco-guards and hunters who have no authorisation. There is a permanent need for communication and negotiation between these parties. The park administration tries to attract local development project, implies the local populations in the surveillance and the decision-making by institutions of co-management. These institutions of co-management shall help on the one hand to communicate the needs of the local population and on the other to sensibilize and responsibilize them. Therefore the park administration promoted the foundation of villagers associations called AVIGREF (Association Villageoise de Gestion des Réserves de Faune) in the villages close to the park.

The installation of these kinds of institutions has evidently an impact on the local political structure. The new positions which are linked to these new institution like the president, the treasurer and so on give to these persons access to financial and social resources they haven’t had before. This changes the local power relations. These changes are one point of interest in my investigations.

As there are quite a lot of sources of conflict I have to concentrate on one of them. That’s why I mainly focus on the phenomena of hunting without official permission and sport hunting. The implication of local villagers in the surveillance of the park may cause a splitting of the village in people who want to hunt even without permission and those who take part in the co-management conservation approach. By means of hunting or of positioning in socially and politically influential positions people struggle for resources to survive and or to increase their influence. (the photo shows the repartition of meat from the sport hunting which is usually sold to the people living around the park)

What to do with this situation? For me there is no question that people are more important then wildlife. But wildlife conservation may lead – in the long-term – to better living conditions than hunting and a not sustainable exploitation of natural resources. So how to find a way acceptable for all? I hope some of the decision makers and or of the locals can help to develop some ideas on this problem…