Ethnobotany of Batéké Fire Regimes, Savanna Vegetation and Resource Use in Gabon
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Land Chief’s embers: ethnobotany of Batéké fire regimes, savanna vegetation and resource use in Gabon by Gretchen Marie Walters Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University College London 2010 1 I, Gretchen Marie Walters, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signed: __________________________________________ 2 In particular, collaboration with the people and extended families of following villages was necessary for this work: Ekouyi, Kebiri, Lewou, Mboua, Mbouma, Malundu, Saaye, and Walla. The aid of these research assistants was also critical for presenting the social context of this thesis: S. Touladjan, D. Kewemie, and L. Makouka. Signed: __________________________________________ 3 Abstract Anthropogenic fire regimes and society are linked: social change modifies fire application which then impacts ecosystems. In the past 40 years, savanna burning has changed markedly around the world as policies, laws, and cultures change. This thesis explores the links between fire regime and culture by analysing the decline of the fire-based Bateke land chief’s authority in Gabon. Unlike other parts of sub-Saharan Africa where colonial anti-fire policies have been strict and punitive, fire policy in Gabon has been lax. As such, today’s savanna fires are neither suppressed nor managed, and their value to the local economy and national conservation is not yet fully recognised. This thesis addresses the changing role of the Bateke as savanna keepers, the effects of their fire regimes on their savanna ecosystem, and the contribution of fire to biodiversity and present day fire-foraging. The effects of the fire regime on the ecosystem are explored through plant collection, participant observation, surveys, interviews, and finally vegetation plots analysing the impacts of different fire treatments. The land chief’s authority was part of a magico-religious system where land fertility was guaranteed by conducting rituals and proper burning procedures. This system effectively ended in the late 1960s during a tumultuous time in Bateke history, resulting in a change in fire culture and hence fire regime. The fires under the land chief system were regulated, annual, dry season hunting occurrences conducted by the community and part of maintaining land fertility. By contrast, today’s fires are lit by individuals who are no longer under the land chief’s authority. Hence, these fires are unregulated, occurring at all times of the year and often semi-annually. Generally, burning stimulates tree resprouting and clears mature grass. However annual and semi-annual fires have different levels of resprout survival based on resprout size, fire intensity, and patchiness. More frequent fires are less intense, creating patches which serve as micro-sites favouring stem survival. In terms of plant diversity, the savannas maintain a flora that is unique for Gabon, though not rare worldwide. The dry-season seems to be the most important season to burn in order to maintain this diversity. Anthropogenic fire is important for Bateke livelihoods where fire and foraging are related; 80% of survey respondents link fire and food. Today’s foraging traditions make fire important for Bateke livelihoods, despite being less connected to land fertility rituals of the past. Taking a national view, most protected savannas in Gabon are not managed by fire and some managers do not recognise its importance to local livelihoods and culture. The land chief system, though probably not designed to protect resources, may offer lessons of fire control in a cultural context of contemporary management of protected areas. 4 Dedication To Chris Wilks (1946 - 2008) who walked the ecosystems of Gabon for over 30 years and aided in their study and conservation. To Egid Ngollo (~1944 - 2008) who burned the Bateke Plateaux savannas all of his life. And to Papa Olivier who helped me in my sandy, sunny village at every step of the way. 5 You will find yourself in unfamiliar territory at first, where the vastness is disquieting, the starkness leaves you empty, you will walk among rocks that tell time differently. Your skin will burn and your hair will lighten. You will find a waterhole and kneel with cupped hands. The reflection you see will not be of the person you once were. Neither is the land. Terry Tempest Williams, Pieces of White Shell 1984: 18 6 Preface Woods punctuating the plains. From the air it looks like small isolated forests dotting a quilt of grasses and trees in south-eastern Gabon. Ancient forest remnants? Recently constructed forest? The Bateke people’s village forests are attributed to village establishment and demarcate clan domains. However, the savannas stretching out between these copses are something else. Regularly or too regularly burned in some people’s opinions, they were subject to magnificent night fires in the long dry season registered on the satellite monitoring system which sent researchers email updates of fire occurrences. Firemapper could tell me about a fire five km south of Ekouyi-Mbouma village but couldn’t say why it has been set. Such a monitoring system is impressive in recording fire frequency but cannot explain why people burn. I had seen the fires happening adjacent to the gallery forests during my botanical research conducted there since 2001. I had previous experience with fire and vegetation issues, having been “red carded” by the U.S. Forest Service and served as a botanist on a fire effects crew in a U.S. National Park. However, I had not considered researching the role of savanna fire in tropical Africa. One evening, at the Projet Protection des Gorilles (PPG) camp, I was talking to Liz Pearson, a good friend, and project director. She expressed her concern about the hunters fires and the potential of hunter-gorilla interaction. I now saw the need for a better understanding of fire in this ecosystem. When a national park was established and included the PPG area, hunting and associated fire setting within the park became a conservation and management issue. At this time, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) undertook technical assistance to the park. Conceptual models were introduced; management was discussed. Soon, an environmental education campaign was begun. In my first month of doctoral fieldwork, I witnessed this campaign encouraging the local population to burn once a year. Upon what basis was this expertise given? None. My colleague, the director of the programme, admitted that he had no information about local fire- setting and was doing the best that he could. Now we know that his guess was not so far from what historically happened. However, it was clear that no one understood the links between culture and fire ecology. This became my research subject not only because I saw the errors that park management was likely to make if they restricted burning from the savanna but also because I saw the opportunity of documenting the last remnants of a historical burning practice. By contrast, in my native U.S.A. we had banned burning and evicted Native Americans before we understood the system dynamics or even asked them how and why they burned. So, after years of collecting plants in the area, I set up my research based in a nearby Bateke village to explore the area’s human fire-ecology. 7 Acknowledgements So many evenings in Ekouyi-Mbouma (EM) I would find myself sitting with various mamas and papas...around Ma Bea’s outdoor fire, sitting on Ma Ndelikesse’ doorstep by the light of her lamp or sharing a litre of pineapple wine with Da Ossuba. One evening, while cracking nta seeds with Ma Jeanette, she sadly stated, “Nana Gretchen, we will be so isolated once you are gone.” And now that I have left Ekouyi, I find it is I that am isolated. There is no nightly hearth beneath the stars; there is no sense of belonging to a group of people—holding mutual responsibility for each other’s well being. How much I yearn for the evening gatherings in EM. To the people of the Bateke Plateaux, thank you for sharing with me your community. There are so many people that have contributed to this work or helped in a significant way. This PhD was conducted in numerous places and was made easier by the following people. Thank you to my family for putting up with the distance, the lack of communication, and the persistence of staying in Gabon while also studying in the UK. Your love and support from home helped tremendously. I thank my parents for supporting me and for developing in me at an early age curiosity about hunting (Dad) and gardening (Mom). Thank you to Grandpa Mario, Uncle Hun, Scott, and Noelle for piquing my interest in gathering foods near home. Thank you Olly for your enduring support during this PhD experience. Thank you, Phil Burnham and Katherine Homewood for the sound advice in designing and writing this dissertation. With your guidance, my understanding of human-influenced ecosystems has broadened, allowing me to become more than a botanist. Phil, thanks so much for your careful and meticulous editing. I look forward to collaborating with you both in the future! The people of Ekouyi-Mbouma, Kebiri, Lewou and Saaye and their extended families in Lékoni, Franceville, Moanda, Libreville, and the United States have been extraordinarily kind to me. Thank you for sharing your lives and instructing me in courses such as “Bateke Fire School” and “How to cut nkumu like a woman”. I thank the Ongassia family for initially housing me. Thanks especially to P. Ngavoura, S. Ossuba, A. Ayiliga, Makissa, M. Nkabi, M. Assieme, E.