Abstract of dissertation project

W National Park as a field of political interaction: actors, resources, conflicts.

Parks in sub-Saharan Africa are often represented as the world?s last 'wilderness areas'. Since the 1990s, the conservationist regime of 'W' national park in Northern Benin has become stricter, with donor projects allocating funds and logistical support to park administration. At about the same time, participatory management projects have taken shape in the region. Village organizations have been established in order to diversify and democratize conservation, while outreach programs have been created to teach people how to live sustainably from their surrounding resources. Social actors on multiple levels, from village members to national government officials, are now engaged in an ongoing process of negotiation about the comparative importance of rural development or conservation, about who defines rights and property, as well as who enforces law and how. Meanwhile, rangers, foresters and trackers monitor the area in order to defend species as well as landscapes from (over-)exploitation. These paramilitary units often regard themselves as the only truly conservationists, while portraying local practices as a serious threat to the environment.

My study focuses on the ways that people debate access to 'natural' as well as symbolic resources while referring to the abstract legal/ideological structure of the national park. The aim of the study is to describe the social reality of a West African protected area, with a particular focus on the perspectives of those people who are employed to protect it. It contributes to the literature on protected areas as it provides detailed insights into daily routines of park surveillance personnel and the negotiation processes they are involved in. The study is located in West Africa, a region that has been largely unexplored in terms of national park research.