La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo

The forest-savannah mosaics are an ecological and heterogenous formation, where landscape structure and composition vary substantially. This study investigates the spatial organization of human activities at the scale of village terroirs of the North Batéké Chiefdom, Democratic Republic of Congo. Ho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Christophe Demichelis, Johan Oszwald, Clélia Gasquet-Blanchard, Victor Narat, Jean-Christophe Bokika, Tamara Giles-Vernick
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Éditions en environnement VertigO 2022-09-01
Series:VertigO
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/36304
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841553055857770496
author Christophe Demichelis
Johan Oszwald
Clélia Gasquet-Blanchard
Victor Narat
Jean-Christophe Bokika
Tamara Giles-Vernick
author_facet Christophe Demichelis
Johan Oszwald
Clélia Gasquet-Blanchard
Victor Narat
Jean-Christophe Bokika
Tamara Giles-Vernick
author_sort Christophe Demichelis
collection DOAJ
description The forest-savannah mosaics are an ecological and heterogenous formation, where landscape structure and composition vary substantially. This study investigates the spatial organization of human activities at the scale of village terroirs of the North Batéké Chiefdom, Democratic Republic of Congo. How are human activities organized on the periphery of the villages? Is there local variability in the spatiality of these activities and what factors account for such variability? Finally, what are the consequences on the landscape, particularly in terms of deforestation? These questions were addressed by crossing data from georeferenced field surveys and socio-economic surveys, all of which were triangulated with analyses from geomatics (GIS and remote sensing). A theoretical model of the village terroir was produced for all villages, consisting of a concentric organization of activities on the periphery of villages, based on the maximum distances walked for each activity. A variation in these distances was observed, notably concerning agriculture, because of demography, availability of woodlands, the presence of community forests and the intensity of economic agriculture. This inter-village variability made it possible to highlight a village typology directly linked to the landscape composition of the terroirs, and thus to highlight different socio-ecological situations within a small area. This has made it possible to identify certain deforestation hotspots, and, conversely, areas where there is little degradation of forest cover. Ultimately, this study aims to support local policies in terms of development and conservation by enabling them to act in an integrated approach at the village level. By relying on the concept of village terroir, this research highlights the relevance of carrying out local, or even micro-local, studies in order to gain a better understanding of the complexity of human-environment relations, which are directly visible on the landscape.
format Article
id doaj-art-7af0803d67384742a1804168de7c7e4a
institution Kabale University
issn 1492-8442
language fra
publishDate 2022-09-01
publisher Éditions en environnement VertigO
record_format Article
series VertigO
spelling doaj-art-7af0803d67384742a1804168de7c7e4a2025-01-09T12:35:12ZfraÉditions en environnement VertigOVertigO1492-84422022-09-0122210.4000/vertigo.36304La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du CongoChristophe DemichelisJohan OszwaldClélia Gasquet-BlanchardVictor NaratJean-Christophe BokikaTamara Giles-VernickThe forest-savannah mosaics are an ecological and heterogenous formation, where landscape structure and composition vary substantially. This study investigates the spatial organization of human activities at the scale of village terroirs of the North Batéké Chiefdom, Democratic Republic of Congo. How are human activities organized on the periphery of the villages? Is there local variability in the spatiality of these activities and what factors account for such variability? Finally, what are the consequences on the landscape, particularly in terms of deforestation? These questions were addressed by crossing data from georeferenced field surveys and socio-economic surveys, all of which were triangulated with analyses from geomatics (GIS and remote sensing). A theoretical model of the village terroir was produced for all villages, consisting of a concentric organization of activities on the periphery of villages, based on the maximum distances walked for each activity. A variation in these distances was observed, notably concerning agriculture, because of demography, availability of woodlands, the presence of community forests and the intensity of economic agriculture. This inter-village variability made it possible to highlight a village typology directly linked to the landscape composition of the terroirs, and thus to highlight different socio-ecological situations within a small area. This has made it possible to identify certain deforestation hotspots, and, conversely, areas where there is little degradation of forest cover. Ultimately, this study aims to support local policies in terms of development and conservation by enabling them to act in an integrated approach at the village level. By relying on the concept of village terroir, this research highlights the relevance of carrying out local, or even micro-local, studies in order to gain a better understanding of the complexity of human-environment relations, which are directly visible on the landscape.https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/36304deforestationlandscapehuman activitiesforest-savannah mosaicvillage terroirlocal variability
spellingShingle Christophe Demichelis
Johan Oszwald
Clélia Gasquet-Blanchard
Victor Narat
Jean-Christophe Bokika
Tamara Giles-Vernick
La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo
VertigO
deforestation
landscape
human activities
forest-savannah mosaic
village terroir
local variability
title La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo
title_full La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo
title_fullStr La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo
title_full_unstemmed La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo
title_short La déforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaïque forêt-savane, République Démocratique du Congo
title_sort la deforestation au prisme des terroirs villageois en situation de mosaique foret savane republique democratique du congo
topic deforestation
landscape
human activities
forest-savannah mosaic
village terroir
local variability
url https://journals.openedition.org/vertigo/36304
work_keys_str_mv AT christophedemichelis ladeforestationauprismedesterroirsvillageoisensituationdemosaiqueforetsavanerepubliquedemocratiqueducongo
AT johanoszwald ladeforestationauprismedesterroirsvillageoisensituationdemosaiqueforetsavanerepubliquedemocratiqueducongo
AT cleliagasquetblanchard ladeforestationauprismedesterroirsvillageoisensituationdemosaiqueforetsavanerepubliquedemocratiqueducongo
AT victornarat ladeforestationauprismedesterroirsvillageoisensituationdemosaiqueforetsavanerepubliquedemocratiqueducongo
AT jeanchristophebokika ladeforestationauprismedesterroirsvillageoisensituationdemosaiqueforetsavanerepubliquedemocratiqueducongo
AT tamaragilesvernick ladeforestationauprismedesterroirsvillageoisensituationdemosaiqueforetsavanerepubliquedemocratiqueducongo