Alice Kelly
Alice Kelly, PhD candidate, University of California, Berkeley. Originally from Virginia, I went to Connecticut College and earned degrees in English Literature and Environmental Studies. After college I joined the United States Peace Corps and was assigned a project in the Extreme North Province of Cameroon where I helped 7 local communities set up Mozogo-Gokoro National Park for ecotourism. I am currently studying Waza National Park in northern Cameroon—looking at the social and ecological effects of changing management strategies in this region. Email: abk@berkeley.edu |
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Research on Land-grabbing:
Enclosure of park lands: the case of Waza National Park, northern Cameroon
This paper will trace the mechanisms by which a “property vacuum” was formed in Waza National Park, northern Cameroon. It will first examine the enclosure of park lands in the context of ‘land-grabs’ by colonial and post-colonial powers. It will reveal the brutal enforcement of these enclosures by park guards and managers for an extended period. It will then show how, with economic crisis, changing political will and regional politics, the national government’s interest in this protected area began to diminish. Filling this gap, the role of international organizations, along with their own sets of land deals, will be investigated. I will conclude by focusing on what happens when strict park management regimes end, leaving behind an open access situation which threatens local people’s security. This analysis will reveal how the current property vacuum has transformed a space for nature conservation into the territory of outlaws—bandits who use this area as a base of operations for kidnappings and theft. Further, it will show that local residents perceive the subsequent excess of “outsiders” as a threat to their food and livelihood security.
