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Pastoralism, biodiversity, and the shaping of savanna landscapes in East Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Peter D. Little
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Résumé

L'Afrique de l'est possède un riche registre historique et archéologique qui documente les influences significantes de l'utilisation des pâturages sur les habitats de la savane. Dans cet article, l'auteur explore l'hétérogènéité des paysages de la savane et leurs effets sur l'utilisation des ressources locales. Il est suggéré que le malentendu fondamental en ce qui concerne les ressources principales—dans ce cas les marécages—et leur importance pour les systèmes sociaux et économiques locaux a mal dirigé les arguments au sujet de la dégradation environnementale dans les endroits pastoraux de la savane. En se concentrant sur une région du nord du Kenya—le bassin du Lake Baringo du district Baringo—où les soucis globaux à la fois au sujet de la perte de la bio-diversité et de la désertification sont exprimés avec force, cet article indique que la relation causale entre les pratiques sociales locales et l'un ou l'autre de ces phénomènes a été extremement exagérée.

Dans le cas du Baringo, il montre (1) comment la valeur des marécages du bassin est constamment mal interprétée par l'état et autres interêts extérieurs, et (2) comment le rôle, tel qu'il est perçu, des troupeaux africain quant à la création d'une dégradation environnementale (la désertification) contredit la reconnaissance récente que le pastoralisme apporte une contribution positive au maintient de la bio-diversité.

Type
The making of landscapes
Information
Africa , Volume 66 , Issue 1: The Social shaping of biodiversity: perspectives on the management of biological variety in Africa , January 1996 , pp. 37 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1996

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