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Appendix 2
BELGIUM
Centre of Cultural Anthropology,
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Professor Pierre de Maret
Dr Theodore Trefon
Miss Daou V. Joiris, Research Associate
Miss Françoise Goldschmidt
CAMEROON
Dr Michael Ndobegang, Université de Yaoundé
Mr Athanase Bopda, Institut National de Cartographie
GABON
Institut de Recherche en Sciences Humaines,
Université Omar Bongo
Professor Joseph Befame-Nseme
Professor Marius Indjiely
Mr Mboumba Moulambou
Mr Alain Elloue Engoune
Mrs Jeanne Mboumba Moulambou
Mr Albert Pyssame
Mr Nziengui-Nziengui
Mr Martin Langa
Mr Essone Atome
Mrs Colette Mercier
ZAIRE
UNIKIN
Professor Lapika Dimomfu
Professor Kika Mavunda
Mr Matula Atul
Mr Kidiba Langa
Mr Kikulu N'yanga-Nzo
Mr Senda
{{Page X}}
Appendix 3
Submitted to the European Commission, DG XI
by Université Libre de Bruxelles, Centre of Cultural Anthropology
contract No° B-8110-93-000284
Report prepared by Theodore Trefon, Ph.D.
Under the direction of Professor Pierre de Maret
Since October 1993 researchers from the Centre of Cultural Anthropology at ULB have been actively pursuing the twofold study of (1) how forest resources are used by central African city dwellers and (2) how the forest, its peoples, products and symbolism are perceived by these populations. Our study is country comparative and inter-disciplinary in focus.
The project's first phase involved:
1. Sharpening the hypotheses delineated in the initial proposal (préparation d'une enquête systématique). These hypotheses are:
- The future of the forest lies to a very large extent in the hands of
city dwellers. This applies to the elite because political decision-makers,
representatives of multinationals or foreign companies, local businessmen,
among others, determine through legislation, political accommodation and
commercial criteria, the ways in which forest resources are exploited.
It also applies to the masses: millions of people in the swelling cities
of central Africa use and rely on, discover and re-discover forest resources
to help cope with the exigencies of daily survival which is exacerbated
by the current economic crisis.
- In times of economic hardship, urban populations exert increasing pressure on forest resources. Deforestation takes place to provide fuel wood and for the establishment of plantations. Likewise, urban unemployed take to commercial hunting as a means of earning a livelihood. This dramatically reduces wildlife communities.
- Forest conservation or management must take a wide array of social science factors into account to be realistic. The world economy, demographic questions, urbanisation, ethnicity, the psychological lure of the city, etc. are among the subjects which influence the ways and degree forest resources are exploited.
- Deforestation and resource depletion by city dwellers goes far beyond the commonly stated reasons of 'poverty and ignorance': cultural and traditional attachment to forest products is deep-rooted and enduring. This depends on the product. In Kinshasa charcoal is widely used for cooking because there are no alternatives whereas in Libreville for example use of electricity and gas is common. In Libreville, however, bush meat is consumed not for economic reasons but because of culture and taste.
- The forest is perceived by city dwellers in a multiplicity of ways which is not very clear. Some consider the forest to be a vast reservoir of resources to be consumed and not managed; others are apprehensive, given real and imagined dangers; others feel a deep spiritual attachment to it. The vast majority of city dwellers are indifferent to the forest as defined and defended by Europeans.
- Political authorities are concerned primarily with their own political survival and addressing short-term economic problems. As forest conservation is a long-term enterprise, there is a divergence of interests.
2. Collecting and analysing relevant documentation available in Brussels. Services at the DG VIII, ULB and the CEDAF have supplied some studies and reference materials but very few works deal explicitly with the forest-city interface. The clear paucity of published material on this subject testifies to its originality and to the timeliness of creating a relevant data bank.
3. Identifying and contacting individuals from academia, civil services and NGOs (in Europe and central Africa) interested in the project's focus.
A second phase entailed a fact finding mission to central Africa. Between 22 February 1994 and 29 March 1994, research was carried out in Yaoundé, Cameroon; Kinshasa, Zaire and Libreville, Gabon.
Specific activities upon arrival in these cities included (1) observation, (2) interviews and discussions, (3) bibliographical research and (4) orchestrating and partially financing pilot studies undertaken by local academics who will be integrated into a network of researchers focusing on the forest-city interface.
We were able to make precise investigations and gather data concerning:
- the principal venues where specific forest products are exchanged (central
markets, roadside markets, ports, etc.).
- those forest products most widely consumed in urban centres. We focused
our attention on both bush meat consumption which is responsible for the
varying but significant disappearance of wildlife and also on wood products
(principally fuel wood but also wood for construction). This choice was
influenced by the assumption that urban populations have been directly responsible
for the depletion of these resources in the areas surrounding their cities
and they are now extending deforestation and hunting activities far into
the intermediary zones between city and rural areas. Other forest products
such as medicinal plants, tree bark, forest fruits, skins, insects, trophies
etc., were identified but we chose not to devote research time and resources
to their study because use of these products does not seriously threaten
the forest environment - at least in the immediate future.
- the social actors participating in the chain of exchange (farmers, fishing
communities, hunters, transporters, market vendors, buyers, consumers, etc.).
- the relationship between trade and transportation networks (road, railroad
and river) and the frequency at which trucks, pick-ups, barges and trains)
enter urban areas.
- who consumes forest products (social class, ethnicity, length of time
spent in cities), for what reasons (traditional attachment, cost, availability),
in what contexts (daily habits, special occasions, ritual).
- how the confrontation between "modernity" and "tradition"
influences recourse to, or the abandoning of, the use of forest products.
African academics, expatriate aid workers, local civil servants and NGO employees were interviewed. Discussions provided specific data on the forest-city interface: they were also useful in up-dating our objectives given the prevailing economic situation in central Africa. Meetings also helped renew inter-university co-operation agreements.(See attached list of persons contacted.)
Local universities and research centres suffer from a lack of financial resources and are consequently quite unable to purchase new acquisitions. Some works are donated but donations remain infrequent. Likewise, government services are hamstrung and have consequently stopped collecting or publishing data. Those few documents made available to us emanated from international organisms. In recent years, studies published by local NGOs or civil services have become exceptional.
Along these same lines, local researchers- especially in Zaire and to a lesser extent in Cameroon - are forced to work under difficult infrastructural conditions. While individuals seemed keenly interested by social scientific aspects of forest conservation and the city-forest interface, they admitted that their own research initiatives remain foiled by budgetary restraints.
The major accomplishment of this mission was setting up a network of Cameroonian, Zairian and Gabonese researchers who are now actively participating in the project. Two pilot studies per country are currently being carried out. One study per country deals with some social economic aspect of bush meat consumption; the other with how, through an anthropological optic, city dwellers perceive the forest.
In Yaoundé one pilot study focuses on aspects of the bush meat trade at the Efoundi market. This includes identifying species, evaluating volume, establishing costs, identifying buyers and consumers. The social scientific aspects of demand for bush meat are emphasised. Research co-ordinator: Mr. Anthanase Bopda, Institut Nationale de Cartographie.
The second Yaoundé study is being carried out by Professor Michael Ndobegang (Ecole Normale Superieure) who is using his students as a sample group. He is investigating how these students perceive the forest and its resources, what the forest symbolises to them, how they perceive conservation issues, etc.
In Kinshasa, Unikin General Secretary for Academic Affairs, Lapika Dimomfu is supervising a study on the consumption of smoked monkey - by far the type of bush meat most widely available in the Zairian capital. Smoked monkey was selected as a research topic because other kinds of bush meat are scarce in Kinshasa and are consequently less relevant in a social economic context. Kinshasa's 5 million inhabitants have put such tremendous pressure on wildlife that game has been depleted in a radius of hundreds of kilometres around the city. Whatever fresh bush meat is found in Kinshasa is reserved for elite Zairians or expatriates. Most of the bush meat available in Kinshasa emanates from the distant forest in the Equateur Province. Questions raised in this study include volume, entry points, distribution network, modes of payment, consumption taboos, etc.
The second study attempts to ascertain how city dwellers reconstitute the forest environment around their homes. Research findings here will be helpful in establishing the scope and intensity of urban dwellers' anthropological attachment to the forest milieu.
In Libreville participants are associated with Omar Bongo University's Institut de Recherche en Sciences Humaines (IRSH). Other organisms have commenced studying some aspects of bush meat consumption in Libreville ( e. g. the World Wildlife Fund and ECOFAC) driven by the large amounts of such meat clearly visible in the local markets. It is estimated that four tons of bush meat enter Libreville monthly. These organisms, however, are focusing on ways of diminishing hunting and trapping without taking into account social science aspects of consumption. Our pilot study will consequently try to ascertain the degree of cultural attachment to bush meat by analysing related consumer attitudes and behaviours.
With respect to the perception Librevillois have of the forest and its resources, researchers at IRSH are developing a country specific questionnaire. Points included address the sustainability of the forest; the forest as a friendly or hostile environment; attitudes concerning poaching; visits to family living in the forest; how the disappearance of the Mondah forest is felt; etc.
Priliminary findings of these six pilot studies will be incorporated into our final report to be submitted to the European Commission. They will help formulate recommendations how to combine social science research on the forest-city interface with forest conservation. These recommendations constitute one element of ongoing research being carried out by the Centre of Cultural Anthropology at ULB pertaining to the future of the forest and its peoples.Continued efforts are being made to introduce researchers from other African countries into our network, e. g. from the Central African Republic and Congo Brazzaville.
Jean-Marc Froment
ECOFAC, EEC
Dr. Jacques Bonvallot
ORSTOM
Dr.Steve Gartland
World Wildlife Fund
Athanase Bopda
Institut National de Cartographie
Dr. Michael Ndobegang
Ecole Normale Superieure
Felicité Tankoua
Service d'Appui aux Iniatives Locale de Développement
Alzadia Washington
USAID
John Macmahon
USAID
Dr. Emmanuel Achu Gwan
Chairman
Department of Geography
Yaoundé University
Professor Ngwa Nebasina
Department of Geography
Yaoundé University
Dr. Jacob Ngeve
IRA Nkolbisson
Augustin Youmbi
Enviro Project
Professor Jerome Makwala
Unikin
Professor Mumpasi Lututala
Unikin
Professor Lapika Dimomfu
Secrétaire Général Academique
Unikin
Professor Kika
Unikin
Wayne King
USAID
Christian Beninger
Cultural Attaché, Ambassade de France
Philippe Nayer
Délégué de la Communauté française de
Belgique
Peter Van de Velde
Ambassade du Royaume de Belgique
GABON
Bernard Clist
CICIBA
Lisa Steel
WWF
Serge Akagah
Les Amis du Pangolin
Professor Marius Indjieley
Institut de Recherche en Sciences Humaines
Omar Bongo University
Professor Joseph Befame-Nseme
Director, IRSH
Omar Bongo University
Professor Mouity Nzamba
Director Cenarest
Omar Bongo University
Rosalie Ngoua
Curator
Musée de la Forêt
Michel Fernandez-Puente
ECOFAC, EEC
Mr Sapor
Mission de la Coopération Française
Gilles Rebattet
Delegate
European Commission
