UNIVERSITE
LIBRE DE BRUXELLES, FACULTE
DES SCIENCES AGRONOMIQUES DE GEMBLOUX, CNRS-LACITO, ORSTOM,
THE UNIVERSITY OF KENT
THE
FUTURE OF TROPICAL RAINFOREST PEOPLE
Lack
of concern for the human factor in tropical forest conservation
and development schemes hamper their long term effectiveness. Ongoing projects,
moreover, tend to be overly specialised and based on perceptions which are limited
in both time and space. There is a growing awareness, however, that consideration
of socio-cultural values is just as important to sustainable development
as the type of environmental
protection advanced thus far by natural scientists.
Given the need to achieve
a balance between natural and social science efforts in forest conservation,
a consortium of five major European institutions has been constituted to examine
in detail the interaction between human ecology and the environment. By adopting
a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, the project hopes to contribute
to the emergence of a non-reductionist understanding, upon which new forms of
reflection and concrete actions
can be based.
Emphasis is on anthropological, ecological, economic, paleo-environmental,
archaeological and demographic dimensions. The needs and knowledge
of that increasing part of humanity which lays on the fringe of the global
economy, problems of poverty, health and nutrition, urbanisation, migrations
and inter-ethnic conflict will also be taken into account.
A better understanding
of the apparent symbiosis which characterises the relationship between
traditional populations and
their eco systems may be attained by addressing the following questions: Are the
activities of these populations really compatible with the maintenance of bio-diversity
or are they ecologically destructive? Can ancestral knowledge and techniques
contribute to the elaboration of new and more efficient forest management
models? What types of strategies are spontaneously developed by these populations
when their sociological and economic structures are weakened or when their
environment is endangered? What
kind of participatory management can be effective? Responses here will be useful
in addressing the need to accommodate conservation with the sustainable use
of forest resources.
With the intention of being as geographically far-reaching
as possible, Central Africa, Papua New Guinea and the three Guyanas
are the focus of research activities. West Africa, other Pacific area countries
and Belize will subsequently be included. Local researchers from these areas participate
actively in the project
as collaboration between EU and ACP researchers is fundamental to the APFT
structure and to its long term viability.
The APFT consortium has received
a substantial grant from DG VIII of the European Union to undertake this
project which will span a five year period from 1995 to 2000. In addition to the consortium, more
than 15 other European and ACP institutions are already interacting as a network
which seeks to foster realistic and pragmatic recommendations.
Primary
objectives of the project include augmenting our
research and development capacities
in the human ecology of rainforest peoples and their relevant indigenous knowledge,
improving the viability of CEC projects, developing and co-ordinating expertise
in Europe and Africa-Caribbean-Pacific countries, stimulating the reflection
and awareness of decision-makers and extension of the data bank.
APFT
Consortium Contacts
Professor Pierre de Maret, Centre
of Cultural Anthropology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, phone:
32 2 650 43 38, fax: 32 2 650 43 37, e-mail:aweis@resulb.ulb.ac.be; Professor
Willy Delvingt, Département des Eaux et Forets, Faculté des Sciences
Agronomiques, phone: 32 81 62 23 21, fax: 32 81 62 23 01 (Belgium); Dr.
Serge Bahuchet, CNRS-LACITO,
phone: 33 1 45 80 96 73, fax: 33 1 45 80 59 83, email: bahuchet
@msh - paris. fr; Dr. Pierre Grenand, ORSTOM, phone: 00 1 48
03 77 77, fax: 33 1 48 83 78 32 (France); Professor Roy Ellen, Department of Anthropology
and Sociology, The University of Kent, phone:
+44 1227 764 000, fax: +44 1227 827 289, email: R.F.Ellen@ ukc.ac.uk, (U.K.)
Coordination
Africa:
Pr. Pierre de Maret (U.L.B.) - Dr. Serge Bahuchet
(C.N.R.S.)
Guyana:Dr.
Pierre Grenand (ORSTOM)
Papua New Guinea:Pr. Roy Ellen (Kent), Dr. C. Kocher Schmid (Kent)
Consultancies:Daou
Véronique Joiris (U.L.B.)
Psychology:Anne Delorme
(U.L.B.)
Forest-City interface:Dr. Theodore Trefon (U.L.B.)
Databank: Dr. M.D. Fischer (Kent), Dr. O. Kortendick (Kent)