« White hunter, black heart »?<br />Sport hunting in Central Africa<br />An analysis of its role in wildlife conservation and in rural development through programmes of communal hunting management.

Abstract

This interdisciplinary thesis analyses the role of sport hunting in the programmes of participative management of wildlife in Central Africa, more particularly on two pilot sites (northern Central African Republic and south-east Cameroon). Over the course of the 20th century, sport hunting evolved greatly through the joint processes of ‘democratisation', professionalisation and internationalisation of its protagonists. These days, safari operators can play a major role in conservation, notably owing to their spatial control of sizeable cynegetic zones, globally sustainable harvesting and a sound capacity to look after and defend the natural environment. This statement can, however, only be fully appreciated when the activity of safari operators plays a part in programmes linking the state, specific projects and the local population. The analysis of the techniques, ideology and discourse of safari guides and those of their clients reveals the antinomy of their ideas of safari as well as the onset of a nostalgia for colonial hunting. We note also the surprising fact that the « great white hunters » often fit better into the rural socio-cultural context than do other non-indigenous protagonists. Finally, if the economic argument presenting sport hunting as a significant tool in programmes of participative management of wildlife remains valid, it is nevertheless essential not to overlook the conceptual and technical limits of the proposed models, as well as the very real stakes lying behind the appropriation of the land and resources.