Territoire et biodiversité : mises en patrimoine et anticipations des acteurs. Une relecture à partir de la Haute Bénoué (Cameroun)

Abstract

After ten years of implementation of the development plan of the Parc de la Bénoué and the continued immigration of new farmers and herders, what were the evolutions of the territories and the power relations between, on the one hand, indigenous and non-natural users of natural resources, and, on the other hand, biodiversity conservation agents? The land issues revealed by the zoning of the national park in the context of exponential population growth lead to new alliances, notably with the previously marginalized traditional authorities, which reaffirm their territorial rights in the process of nature patrimonialization. We show how the local strategies at work are in keeping with the old cultural model of each of these communities, centered on the territory and not on the biodiversity it contains. Discussions on the recognition of local practices and knowledge, as well as on the complementarity between emblematic and ordinary biodiversity, do not find any echoes in this area overwhelmed by uncontrolled immigration directly linked to the context of regional insecurity.

Keywords

• Biodiversity
• Territory
• Nature conservancy
• Indigenous societies
• Participation
• Cameroon