Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:59:08.342Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sorcery and nature conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2017

JOANA SOUSA ,
ANDREW AINSLIE  and
CATHERINE M HILL
JOANA SOUSA*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Centre for Conservation, Environment and Development, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK Department of Geography and Environment, Geneva School of Social Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
ANDREW AINSLIE
Affiliation:
International Development Research Group, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK
CATHERINE M HILL
Affiliation:
Anthropology Centre for Conservation, Environment and Development, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
*
*Correspondence: Joana Sousa email: joanavazsousa@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Representations of animals are diverse and can portray local understandings of nature conservation, information that is often missing from conservation debates. In Cantanhez National Park (southern Guinea-Bissau), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are recognized as animals that share certain features with humans but live independently of them in the forest. However, chimpanzees are also integral to socially mediated, deep-rooted local narratives about sorcery and nature conservation. We use results from ethnographic research to explore local interpretations of chimpanzee attacks on people. Attacks by ‘bush’ chimpanzees occur when an animal is provoked by someone's actions towards it. Unprovoked attacks, however, are either interpreted as the act of a shape-shifted chimpanzee (i.e. a sorcerer) or as the responsibility of conservation stakeholders. In the case of unprovoked attacks, chimpanzee aggression is linked to a perceived abuse of power and to greed, with implications for nature conservation locally. Close analysis of local representations of animals contributes to a broader consideration of conservation priorities and practice.

Keywords

animal representationschimpanzeesGuinea-Bissaunational parktourismwitchcraft
Type
Non-Thematic Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 45 , Issue 1: Thematic section. Humans and Island Environments , March 2018 , pp. 90 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Albuquerque, U.P., Cunha, L.V.F.C., Lucena, R.F.P. & Alves, R.R.N. (2014) Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology. New York, NY, USA: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alves, R.R.N., Rosa, I.L., Neto, N.A.L. & Vocks, R. (2012) Animals for the gods: magical and religious faunal use and trade in Brazil. Human Ecology 40: 751–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benítez, G. (2011) Animals used for medicinal and magico-religious purposes in western Granada Province, Andalusia (Spain). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 137: 1113–1123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bessa, J., Sousa, C. & Hockings, K.J. (2015) Feeding ecology of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) inhabiting a forest–mangrove–savanna–agricultural matrix at Caiquene-Cadique, Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. American Journal of Primatology 77: 651–665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bird-David, N., Abramson, A., Altman, J., Bicchieri, M.G., Burch, E.S., Ember, C.R., Endicott, K.M., Grinker, R.R., Gudeman, S., Ichikawa, M., Ingold, T. & Wenzel, G.W. (1992) Beyond ‘The original affluent society’: a culturalist reformulation. Current Anthropology 33: 25–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casanova, C. & Sousa, C. (2007) National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Chimpanzee, Red Western Colobus and Black and White Western Colobus Monkey Populations in Guinea-Bissau Republic. Bissau, Guinea-Bissau: UNEP, IBAP, MDRARNA.Google Scholar
Costa, S., Casanova, C. & Lee, P. (2013) The good, the bad and the ugly: perceptions of wildlife in Tombali (Guinea-Bissau, West Africa). Journal of Primatology 2: 1–7.Google Scholar
Dickman, A.J. (2010) Complexities of conflict: the importance of considering social factors for effectively resolving human–wildlife conflict. Animal Conservation 13: 458–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickman, A., Johnson, P.J., Kesteren, F. & Macdonald, D.W. (2015) The moral basis for conservation: how is it affected by culture? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13: 325–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Draheim, M., Madden, F., McCarthy, J.B. & Parsons, C. (2015) Human–Wildlife Conflict: Complexity in the Marine Environment. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drury, R., Homewood, K. & Randall, S. (2011) Less is more: the potential of qualitative approaches in conservation research. Animal Conservation 14: 18–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
e-Global (2016) Mais uma criança vítima de agressão de chimpanzés no sul da Guiné-Bissau. 7 December [www document]. URL http://e-global.pt/noticias/lusofonia/guine-bissau/mais-uma-crianca-vitima-de-agressao-de-chimpanzes-no-sul-da-guine-bissau/ Google Scholar
Geschiere, P. (2013) Witchcraft, Intimacy and Trust. Chicago, IL, USA and London, UK: The University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gippoliti, S., Sousa, C. & Embalo, D. (2004) Guiné-Bissau. In: Chimpanzés d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Etat de Conservation de l'Espèce et Plan d'Action, eds. Kormos, R., Boesch, C., Bakarr, H.I. & Butynski, T.M., pp. 73–78. Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK: Groupe de Spécialistes des Primates de la CSE de l'UICN.Google Scholar
GRASP (2005) Global strategy for the survival of great apes and their habitat [www document]. URL http://www.unesco.org/mab/doc/grasp/e_globalStrategy.pdf Google Scholar
Hill, C.M. (1997) Crop-raiding by wild vertebrates: the farmer's perspective in an agricultural community in western Uganda. International Journal of Pest Management 43: 77–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, C.M. (2015) Perspectives of ‘conflict’ at the wildlife–agriculture boundary: 10 years on. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 20: 296– 301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockings, K.J. & Sousa, C. (2012) Differential utilization of cashew – a low-conflict crop – by sympatric humans and chimpanzees. Oryx 46: 375–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockings, K.J. & Sousa, C. (2013) Human–chimpanzee sympatry and interactions in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau: current research and future directions. Primate Conservation 26: 57–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hockings, K.J., Yamakoshi, G., Kabasawa, A. & Matsuzawa, T. (2010) Attacks on local persons by chimpanzees in Bossou, Republic of Guinea: long-term perspectives. American Journal of Primatology 72: 887–896.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jalais, A. (2008) Unmasking the cosmopolitan tiger. Nature and Culture 3: 25–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karibuhoye, C. (2004) Mammal Conservation Status and Prospects for Community-based Wildlife Management in Coastal Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. PhD thesis. Göttingen, Germany: Georg-August-Universität zu Göttingen.Google Scholar
Knight, J. (2000) Culling demons: the problem of bears in Japan. In: Natural Enemies: People–Wildlife Conflicts in Anthropological Perspective, ed. Knight, J., pp. 145–169. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Köhler, A. (2000) Half-man, half-elephant. Shape shifting among the Baka of Congo. In: Natural Enemies: People–Wildlife Conflicts in Anthropological Perspective, ed. Knight, J., pp. 50–73. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Leischer, C., Sanjayan, M., Blockhus, J., Kontoleon, A. & Larsen, S.N. (2000) Does conserving biodiversity work to reduce poverty? A state of knowledge review. In: Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation: Exploring the Evidence for a Link, ed. Roe, D., Elliott, J., Sandbrook, C. & Walpole, M., pp. 143–159. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Macfie, E.J. & Williamson, E.A. (2010) Best Practice Guidelines for Great Ape Tourism. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG).Google Scholar
Marvin, G. (2010) Wolves in sheep's and other clothing. In: Beastly Natures: Animals, Humans and the Study of History, ed. Brantz, D., pp. 59–78. Charlottesville, VA, USA & London, UK: University of Virginia Press.Google Scholar
McLennan, M.R. (2008) Beleaguered chimpanzees in the agricultural district of Hoima, Western Uganda. Primate Conservation 23: 45–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLennan, M.R. & Hill, C.M. (2010) Chimpanzee responses to researchers in a disturbed forest–farm mosaic at Bulindi, western Uganda. American Journal of Primatology 72: 907–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLennan, M.R. & Hockings, K.J. (2016) The aggressive apes? Causes and contexts of great ape attacks on local persons. In: Problematic Wildlife, ed. Angelici, F.M., pp. 373–394. New York, NY, USA: Springer International Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendes, N. & Serra, A. (2002) As Medidas de Iemberém Sobre a Co-gestão das 14 Matas de Cantanhez. Lemberém, Guinea-Bissau: AD, ECA/UICN.Google Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L. (1998) Predicting patterns of crop damage by wildlife around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Conservation Biology 12: 156–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neto, N.A.L., Mourão, J.S. & Alves, R.R.N. (2011) “It all begins with the head”: initiation rituals and the symbolic conceptions of animals in Candomblé. Journal of Ethnobiology 31: 244–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O Democrata (2016) Chimpanzés voltam aos ataques ferozes contra crianças em Empada. 7 December [www document]. URL http://www.odemocratagb.com/chimpanzes-voltam-aos-ataques-ferozes-contra-criancas-em-empada/ Google Scholar
Redpath, S.M., Gutierrez, R.J., Wood, K.A. & Young, J.C. (2015) Conflicts in Conservation. Navigating towards Solutions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, P. (1996) Chimpanzees, diamonds and war. The discourses of global environmental change and local violence on the Liberia–Sierra Leone border. In: The Future of Anthropological Knowledge, ed. Moore, H. L., pp. 140–155. London, UK and New York, NY, USA: Routledge.Google Scholar
Richards, P. (2000) Chimpanzees as political animals in Sierra Leone. In: Natural Enemies: People–Wildlife Conflicts in Anthropological Perspective, ed. Knight, J., pp. 78–103. London, UK: European Association of Social Anthropologists.Google Scholar
Sá, R., Ferreira da Silva, M.J., Sousa, F. & Minhós, T. (2012) The trade and ethnobiological use of chimpanzee body parts in Guinea-Bissau: implications for conservation. TRAFFIC Bulletin 24: 31–34.Google Scholar
Sarró, R. (2009) The Politics of Religious Change on the Upper Guinea Coast. Iconoclasm Done and Undone. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Sousa, J. (2014) Shape-shifting nature in a contested landscape in Guinea-Bissau (PhD thesis). Oxford, UK: Oxford Brookes University.Google Scholar
Sousa, J., Barata, A.V., Sousa, C., Casanova, C.C.N. & Vicente, L. (2011) Chimpanzee oil-palm use in southern Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. American Journal of Primatology 73: 485–497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sousa, J., Vicente, L., Gippoliti, S., Casanova, C. & Sousa, C. (2013) Local knowledge and perceptions of chimpanzees in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. American Journal of Primatology 76: 122–134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sousa, J., Hill, C.M. & Ainslie, A. (2017) Chimpanzees, sorcery and contestation in a protected area in Guinea-Bissau. Social Anthropology. Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1111/1469-8676.12418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temudo, M.P. (2005) Western beliefs and local myths: a case study on the interface between farmers, NGOs and the State in Guinea-Bissau rural development interventions. In: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Africa NGOs, Donors and the State, eds. Igoe, J. & Kensall, T., pp. 253–277. Durham, NC, USA: Carolina Academic Press.Google Scholar
Temudo, M.P. (2012) ‘The white men bought the forests’: conservation and contestation in Guinea-Bissau, Western Africa. Conservation and Society 10: 354–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Temudo, M.P. (2009) A narrativa da degradação ambiental no Sul da Guiné-Bissau: uma desconstrução etnográfica. Etnográfica. Revista do Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia 13: 237–264.Google Scholar
Walsh, M. & Goldman, H. (2012) Chasing imaginary leopards: science, witchcraft and the politics of conservation in Zanzibar. Journal of Eastern African Studies 6: 727–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R., Thirgood, S. & Rabinowitz, A. (2005) People and Wildlife, Conflict or Co-existence? Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wrangham, R., Wilson, M., Hare, B. & Wolfe, N.D. (2000) Chimpanzee predation and the ecology of microbial exchange. Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 12: 186–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar