Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), France
On October 2-4, 2024, the N’Djamena international conference (https://pasto-protect-2024.sciencesconf.org/?forward-action=index&forward-controller=index&lang=en) permitted to bridging the gap between the conservationist vision of protected areas and the pure pastoral activities. The conference stressed the need not to think about conservation in a way that is disconnected from the development of local communities.
This conference allowed to put some concepts at the debate (landscape vs territorial approach; pastoralist vs neo-pastoralists) and to learn on experiences in the field (parks playing in some settings a role of refuge, or routes for herds during crisis or in tension zones, the comparison of the services provided by agropastoral systems, in comparison with protected areas).
Chadian research institutions and decision-makers wish to make this conference an event to be repeated and the IASC biennial conference offers occasion to continue research on this thematic and made progress on solutions to co-construct the future of protected areas and agropastoral interfaces’ territories based on more inclusive and commons modes of governance.
