Africana Periodical Literature 
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| Title: | Some dimensions of local practices of natural resource management in the Central Africa region |
| Authors: | Mala, William Armand Oyono, Phil René |
| Year: | 2004 |
| Periodical: | Research Review (ISSN 0855-4412) |
| Volume: | 20 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 23-31 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs., maps |
| Geographic terms: | Cameroon Gabon Central Africa |
| Subjects: | natural resource management land use agricultural land agricultural ecology Environment, Ecology Ecosystem management forest management Rain forests Traditional ecological knowledge |
| Abstract: | The Central Africa region, or Congo Basin, is the second largest rainforest in the world, and covers, amongst others, southern Cameroon and northern Gabon, where fieldwork was carried out for this paper. The dynamics of the resource use system of the local communities in this area is the result of social and ecological interactions. The paper looks at the communities' social representation of land, developed through mechanisms of access to land and appropriation of space. There is a significant marking of the landscape by toponyms. Local natural resource management systems are characterized by dynamics of landscape stratification, the most significant of which relate to cycles of conversion between forest landscape and agricultural spaces, and vice versa. Three resource pools are identified: the 'crop farms/traps' pool; the 'cocoa plantation/crop farms/traps' pool; and the 'secondary forest/old forest' pool. There are many signs through which local communities understand the changes taking place in their natural environment. In conclusion, the paper recommends that scientific and conventional knowledge should unify with indigenous knowledge, in order to generate sustainable practices of natural resources management. Bibliogr., sum. in English and French. [ASC Leiden abstract] |