The rise and fall of protected areas in Central Africa: a historical perspective

Résumé 0

In view of their new commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity, many countries are deciding how to increase the number of PAs (30% by 2030). However, not all proposals on the table are entirely new, with some having colonial roots. Colonial PAs often have histories related to land dispossession and removal of natural resource rights. Some PAs created in the colonial period were gazetted in areas considered by the colonial governments to be lands without masters. These PAs were created in “frontier spaces”, which upended customary property systems, social dynamics, disregarded customary rights. Territorialisation is the strategic use of bounded space to control resources. We use territorialisation to understand the links between colonial and modern PAs in cases where colonial-era PAs were gazetted and then either forgotten or degazetted. In some cases, these same areas are now being resurrected and considered for regazettement. Through the lens of territorialisation over time, we trace the creation of the Mont Fouari colonial hunting reserve (Gabon), the Reserve Floristique de Yangambi (DRC), Lomami National Park (DRC), and the Plateaux Batéké National Park (Gabon). We show how colonial attempts to territorialise their colonies through the creation of various reserves (e.g. hunting, floristic) continues to live on in new proposals for modern PAs. We reflect on the consequences of these types of proposals, and whether resurrecting colonial-era PAs is good for people and biodiversity.