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Article

French

ID: <

10.4000/cybergeo.17203

>

·

DOI: <

10.4000/cybergeo.17203

>

Where these data come from
The Amazon Park in French Guiana: an example of the difficult trade-off between nature protection and development

Abstract

This paper highlights the difficulties for creating the Amazonian Parc in French Guiana. The project was initiated during the Environment and Development Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992. The area selected for the park is located in the South of French Guiana and covers approximately three million hectares of the Guyanese forest, which is estimated at more than eight million hectares. The project’s initial objective was to protect the environment and mainly to preserve the biodiversity of this part of French Guiana. As soon as the project started, the main objective to preserve the natural character of the area was confronted not only to economic activities mainly related to gold mining, but also to the strong need of lands for agricultural activities by local population, essentially communities of Amerindians and Bushinengue. The retrospective and comparative mapping of several proposals of the park location and its spatial organization, together with field investigation and interviews, permit to highlight some conflicts of interest from various actors and communities involved. By simplifying the definition and the role of nature preservation devoted to national parks in France, especially in their outer edges which are now considered as areas of “sustainable development”, the new law on national parks, adopted by the French National Assembly in December 2005, has contributed significantly to the progress of the French Guiana national Park project which has been finally completed in February 2007. According to the new law, the national park of French Guiana, named Amazonian Park of Guiana, is no longer a strict tool for the preservation of nature and the protection of biodiversity, but a tool which combine environmental conservation and sustainable development. The achievement of this project highlights recent progress of the european concepts regarding nature and protected areas in the international context of biodiversity and sustainable development issues.

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