The forests of Central Africa at a crossroads: the sustainability issue between ecology and social sciences

Abstract (English)

The social and environmental situation of Central Africa's tropical forests is at the crossroads of multiple, overlapping and often contradictory issues, combining long-term history, globalisation and ecological crisis (Locatelli et al., 2025). Half a century ago, Pierre-Philippe Rey (1971) had already highlighted the social and environmental transformations implied by the development of the extractive industries in Central Africa. Since then, and even though they are inhabited by a large and diverse population, its forests have not received as much attention as their American and Asian counterparts (Eba’a Atyi et al., 2019). As a result, there is still a relative but significant deficit in our understanding of their ecosystemic and socio-anthropological dynamics. This is all the more problematic given that an integrated approach to these different aspects is becoming increasingly popular as a means of understanding and attempting to resolve the current ecological crisis (IPBES, 2024). Proposed by the RESSAC programme (supported by CIFOR-ICRAF), this panel will look at the issues and stakes underway in and for the forests of Central Africa through the lens of sustainability concerns (Ongolo and Krott, 2024) and the perspectives of social and environmental changes (Saito, 2022).

It invites research based on recent fieldworks carried out in Central Africa, preferably with at least an ethnographic component. While questions of governance are a recurrent topic of analysis in relation to the region's forests, particular attention will also be paid to contributions based on discussions with indigenous peoples and local communities (Zanjani et al., 2023). The themes addressed may include, but are not limited to, local knowledge, protected areas, ecosystem services, food, non-timber forest products, hunting, extractive activities, livestock farming and agriculture. Contributions may also address methodological issues and the possibilities for implementing sustainable solutions applied to the problems encountered during the research.