Environmental protection has also been approached from the perspective of national legislation but the gap between law and application is too wide for this approach to be meaningful.3 Such legislation moreover does not always take the human factor into consideration and does so rarely when it comes to rural populations. This can be accounted for in local political terms because African leaders are generally willing to minimise ecological concern for reasons of political accommodation or when short-term economic or commercial incentives are strong enough. They are consequently disinclined to seriously address environmental issues perceived as luxuries defended by ecologists in post-industrial societies. African political ideology is nonetheless, gradually starting to accept the concept of "development with conservation".4 In this spirit, Organization of African Unity (OAU) leaders forcefully verbalised the need to address the deforestation crisis during the fifty-first Council of Ministers session (February 1990):5 a trend encouraged by "aid for nature swoops".6 Increased interest in "eco-tourism" is another incentive. A closely related hypothesis which merits being tested is whether or not positive environmental action on the part of African leaders is linked to internal and external pressure for democracy.
The 1980s saw a shift in attitudes and gradually mention was made in publications and international forums of the forest peoples themselves. Likewise, the long-standing fences-and-fines approach to forest conservation was re-evaluated. In 1983 a pair of authors "struggled to consider man as being an integral part of eco-systems."7 Denslow and Padoch buttressed this position.8 The Declaration of La Lopé (Gabon 1988) concerning rational use and conservation of central Africa's eco-systems referred to participation, responsibility and awareness of local peoples with respect to conservation policy.9 Similarly, Globe International in its proposition for a model convention aimed at rational use and conservation of forests included an article firmly supporting the rights of forest peoples.10 The European Union continued moving in this direction, supporting a major work on the conditions of forest peoples in Asia, South America and central Africa. Situation des Populations Indigènes des Forêts Denses Humides ,11 like the other seminal works on forest peoples, however, remains essentially forest-based.12
Other international organisations endorsed this school of thought by sponsoring a multiplicity of conferences, summits and symposiums. In 1990, for example, the World Conservation Union and The World Bank organised a conference hosted by The African Development Bank on "Conservation of West and Central African Rainforests" where issues relating to "the nexus of population, agriculture and environment" were addressed.13 The 1992 Conference on Environment and Development, commonly known as the Rio Conference associated the needs and cultures of local populations with sustainable development. The following passage captures the spirit of its basis for action:
"Indigenous people and their communities have an historical relationship with their lands and are generally descendants of the original inhabitants of such lands... Indigenous people and their communities represent a significant percentage of the global population. They have developed over many generations a holistic traditional scientific knowledge of their lands, natural resources and environment... In view of the interrelationship between the natural environment and its sustainable development and the cultural, social, economic and physical well-being of indigenous people, national and international efforts to implement environmentally sound and sustainable development14* should recognise, accommodate, promote and strengthen the role of indigenous people and their communities."15
These works and initiatives provide a foundation for the new research demands which must go further in developing social scientific modes of analysis so crucial to forest conservation. Investigating how city dwellers use and perceive forest resources constitutes an original approach in this line of thinking because it takes forest research outside of the forest for the first time.
Some works however have looked at aspects of the forest-city interface which are useful for our research. Ariel Lugo (1991) has analysed socio-ecology, ecological engineering and economics with respect to cities and the tropical landscape. In a concise but convincing article he argues that:
"there is room for the city in the tropical forest biome, and that cities may be a required component of any sound conservation scheme for such regions. However, we need to rethink how we locate, design, and maintain cities so that they become assets, rather than liabilities, for the sustainable development of the tropics".16
He continues by suggesting that before sustainable development policies can be applied in tropical lands, particular attention must be paid to interface economies and ecosystems. While Lugo emphasises different variables in the forest-city equation, the significant point is that he is working on the role of cities in forest conservation.
In related research, but again considering different variables, the Zairian Lubana Ngiyene Amena (1990), has studied the relationship between rural associations and urban consumer groups.17 This work is of particular importance because it proposes a concrete methodology in analysing the roles of specific social actors involved in the commercialisation of hinterland products in Kinshasa.
Hardoy, Mitlin and Satterthwaite (1992) have analysed how poverty in Third World cities affects the surrounding ecosystems, health and global cycles. They offer guidelines on how responsible local governments can improve the standards of living of city dwellers.18