Things Fall Apart? - The Political Ecology of Forest Governance in Southern Nigeria

Governance failure and corruption are increasingly identified as key causes of tropical deforestation. In Nigeria's Edo State, once the showcase of scientific forestry in West Africa, large-scale forest conversion and the virtual depletion of timber stocks are invariably attributed to recent failures in forest management, and are seen as yet another instance of how "things fall apart" in Nigeria. Through an in-depth historical and ethnographic study of forestry in Edo State, this book challenges this routine linking of political and ecological crisis narratives. It shows that the roots of many of today's problems lie in scientific forest management itself, rather than its recent abandonment, and moreover that many "illegal" local practices improve rather than reduce biodiversity and forest cover. The book therefore challenges preconceptions about contemporary Nigeria and highlights the need to reevaluate current understandings of what constitutes "good governance" in tropical forestry.

Table des matières

List of Maps

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Ecology and Politics in the Benin Kingdom

Chapter 2. Separating Farm and Forest: Reservation and Dereservation

Chapter 3. Managing the Forests: Logging and Regeneration

Chapter 4. Reinventing Farm and Forest: The Changing Forms of Taungya Farming

Chapter 5. Okomu National Park: A Postscript on Conservation

Appendix: Administrative History of Edo State

Bibliography

A propos de l'auteur

Pauline von Hellermann is Lecturer in Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. She has conducted research on landscapes and politics in Nigeria and Tanzania and is editor of Multisited Ethnography: Problems and Possibilities in the Translocation of Research Methods (with Simon Coleman, Routledge, 2011).

Détails du produit

• Auteurs: Pauline von Hellermann, Hellermann Pauline von
• Edition: BERGHAHN BOOKS, INC
• Langues: Anglais
• Format d'édition: Livre Relié
• Sortie: 01.09.2013
• EAN: 9780857459893
• ISBN: 978-0-85745-989-3
• Pages: 206
• Thème: Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology
• Catégories: Sciences naturelles, médecine, informatique, technique > Sciences naturelles en général; Nigeria, NATURE / Natural Resources, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Forests & Rainforests, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Environmental Management, Social and cultural anthropology, Environmental Studies (General), Anthropology (General)