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| LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF WILDLIFE IN AFRICA: IS IT FEASIBLE? A discussion based on the study of village hunting in East-Cameroon |
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Reference |
| Takforyan, Ani. 1998. "Local Management of Wildlife in Africa: Is It Feasible? A Discussion Based on the Study of Village Hunting in East-Cameroon." Presented at "Crossing Boundaries", the seventh annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, June 10-14. Link: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/archive/00000168/ |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| In the studied ethnic groups, agriculture is the main activity, and secondary activities are hunting, fishing and gathering. Villagers manage the interactions between these different activites which are complementary, in terms of food supply, time, social relationships and monetary income. The calendar of the different activities during the year shows that there is a complementarity between hunting and other activities in terms of time and food. Hunting represents for local populations a major source of protein, sometimes revenue, and plays a dramatic sociocultural role ; every men hunt, beginning their apprenticeship at around the age of ten. The hunt is mainly done with traps and the most common type of capture is the snare with a metal wire ; a few rifles circulate in the villages but their use remains very marginal. Hunting is practised near the village, in the forest and around the fields, and also in remote areas, involving camping during several days. Hunting is often a group activity : in each camp there are two to six hunters, and the shorter hunts are often practiced by two people. |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| Spacial Boundaries: The case study is concentrated on two neighboring villages, Goute (about 150 inhabitants) and Djemiong (around 250 inhabitants). Each village appropriates an activity area, called the 'village forest'. The villagers speak of the 'Goute forest' and the 'Djemiong forest'. The village forest includes the village, the agricultural areas (cultivated fields and fallows) and the forest itself. The limits of the village forest depend on the space covered by the villagers’ activities and are mostly situated on rivers. As hunting can be done on all types of spaces, the entire village forest represents the space of game harvesting.Social Boundaries: The composition of the villages is based on kinship : each village is constituted of one or more patrilineages. Thus, access to the village forest is also largely defined by kinship rules. The right to do any activity in the village forest depends on the belonging to the founder patrilineages and to marriage or friendship links with members of these patrilineages. So, hunters not from the village are excluded from game harvesting and occasional hunters from the outside can be welcomed is they are related to some villager, who becomes his 'host' : they have to ask permission to the village chief and to the elders ; during their stay in the village, they are strictly dependent on their host and go hunting with him. Inside the village forest, access is free for the village hunters, but there is a certain allocation of hunting places within the village forest, between extended families. |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| The village is characterized by a certain internal unity and cohesion :- in social terms : the village is constituted according to kinship rules of co- and patrilocal residence for members of the same patrilineage ;- in political terms : there exists a political structure, the village council, whose role is to take collective decisions and to resolve internal affairs or conflicts |
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(c) Resource Allocation |
| Inside the village forest, access is free for the village hunters, but there is a certain allocation of hunting places within the village forest, between extended families. This allocation doesn’t represent any official inheritance, but it is said that, in any aspect of life, the son follows his father.Hunters carry on harvesting the same areas than their father, where they learnt hunting and where the forest is more familiar than anywhere else. They can change their areas, according to availability of wildlife, accessibility, etc., but kinship remains the first criteria of choice. Each year the majority of hunters rotate from one area to another, the ostensible goal being to calm the area.The consumption of harvested animals is done first through sharing and collective meals and second through sale. Consumption follows precise social rules, expressed through the system of dividing up harvested animals and through a large distribution of game. All consumed game is shared into three spheres :- the hunting group, during camping periods : part of the harvest is cooked and eaten by the group, and hunters who have brought nothing back receive part of other hunters’ catch ;- the extended family : the game is divided up and specific parts of the game are given to some members according to hierarchy ; this distribution is strengthend by the existence of food taboos for young people and for hunters whom wife is pregnant ;- the patrilineage and the village : meals are collective, different nuclear/extended families daily form a group and eat together. The calendar of the different activities during the year shows that there is a complementarity between hunting and other activities in terms of time and food. the hunting season is situated between June and November. During the main dry season, between December and May, fish replaces game. Gathering small animals, such as snails, represents a complement both during hunting and fishing season. |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| The local body of conflict resolution and jugement is the village council, composed by the elders and the chief of the village. The village council is not really a court because its aims are to maintain social peace and cohesion, and never to judge and punish guilty persons. There exist specific procedures in case of problems : the complainant applies to the village council and lodge an official complaint, the guilty person is judged by the council and is imposed to pay a fine. In fact, these procedures are never put into practice, the conflict is generally resolved directly between the two persons, and the agreement is sealed by the exchange of gifts. In any case, lodging a complaint against his brother is perceived as very shameful and belonging to the same family is often enough to resolve any problem. It is only in case of serious disagree that the affair goes to the council, and then, elders will try to reassert kinship relations in order to calm down the parties. When a case cannot be settled on this level, it is sent before the customary court in the county town of the canton. The customary court, created by the State after an administrative division into cantons, is presided over by the canton chief, seconded by assessors ; all are from villages of the area and are designated by the villagers themselves, although they receive a salary from the State. In the customary court, the modes of resolving problems are the same as the village council. In very serious affairs, the case may go to the Prefecture of Batouri; it is only at this level that cases are really perceived by villagers as official. |
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Problems Faced by Institution |
| Not mentioned |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| Not mentioned |
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Purpose |
| management of wild life hunting |
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Country |
| Cameroon |
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Region |
| The field work was carried out in the forested zone of the East Cameroon. The population density is very low, less than 5 inhabitants/km², and small villages are scarcely disseminated along roads. The region is an enclave and road system is still undeveloped ; although small in number, these roads have a significant impact on certain villages, by breaking their isolation. The forest is characterized by a large biological diversity and is rich in resources for local populations (food, medicine, construction materials, etc.). It is a dense semi-deciduous forest. The climate is the Guinean type, with a long rainy season from September to November, a short rainy season from April to May and two dry seasons, December to February and July to August. |
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