Protected areas and institutions of natural resource management
National Parks
Protected areas are generally perceived as efficient instruments for the preservation of plants and animals and biodiversity. However, since protected areas restrict access to economically and culturally valued resources on the one hand and establish sources of income through tourism, development projects and also fines against intruders (e.g. poachers) they are highly contested arenas of political confrontation and ideological contestation between various groups of actors ? actors ranging from local farmers, herders, and hunters to representatives of the local state (such as foresters) and international conservation agents.Three anthropological research projects scrutinize in ethnographic detail the social and political dynamics that are triggered off by the biosphere reserves and national parks Pendjari and W in Northern Benin.
Main Project
BIOTA Africa [Link]
Duration
15.03.2007 - 30.06.2010
Team
Dr. Sascha Kesseler
Barbara Löhde, M.A.
Dr. Bianca Volk
The research was part of the research project
BIOTA West III: The Socio-political Dimension of Land Use and Biodiversity Conservation in West Africa
Funding
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)
Publications
Löhde, Barbara (2012): Encounters in the Conservation Arena. Rangers, Herders, Cultivators and Poachers in the W National Park, Benin. M.A. thesis. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
Kesseler, Sascha (2015): "Wir schützen unseren Park"- Aushandlungsprozesse von Räumen, Identitäten und Institutionen im Pendjari-Nationalpark (Benin). PhD thesis. [DOI]
Volk, Bianca (2019): "Der prekäre Park - Akteure, Ressourcen und Verhandlung im Nationalpark W, Benin" PhD thesis. [DOI]