La forêt et les mouvements paysans dans le sud-cameroun :esquisse d'une sociologie écologique

Abstract

This thesis begins with the observation of a problem of the paradox between legalutilitarian perspectives and local perceptions on forest ownership in the South-Cameroon Region. Based on literature that demonstrates an unbalanced power between local populations and the politico-economic authorities that use legal rights, this thesis addresses this problem under the prism of the resilience of said populations. It answers the question: “How does the resilience of the populations of South-Cameroon Region operate in the face of the process of de-constitution of their traditionalist relationship to the forest? ". Our hypothesis is that the tangible occupation of the forest space, the conflict situations resulting from the normalization of the disrespect of the existing texts and the legislation in force, the peasant disputes are all strategies of resilience and resistance put in place established by local people. With the aim of examining the mechanisms of resistance and resilience of the populations of the SouthCameroon Region faced with the process of de-constitution of their traditionalist relationship to the forest, the use of a mixed methodology for the collection and analysis of data and calling upon actor-network and actionalism theories for interpretation appeared the most logical and relevant. This has made it possible to achieve the result that the management of the forest area and the related tax is subject to uncontrolled exploitation of the forest in defiance of the laws and regulations provided for this purpose. This non-compliance with the regulations in force, especially with regard to the sharing of profits from industrial logging, leads to open or latent conflicts between absolutely capitalist loggers and sovereign rural populations. These conflicts are defined within the framework of this work of “social movements”; a situation where the local populations are involved in a process of claims, considering themselves aggrieved in the sharing of the dividends drawn from their “forest”. The balance of power between the said populations and other actors such as the State of Cameroon, loggers and agro-industrialists depletes their resistance resources and forces them to be resilient. This is an obstacle to the local dynamic of community development.