Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Though he described 2010 as
une année en calvaire
, “a year of calvary,” their project was ac-
cepted. Shortly after, Sankuru received a grant to develop carbon credits from Norway and the UK's
Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF, not to be confused with CBFP) for REDD, which is now be-
ing implemented. This funding has been arriving slowly, administered by the African Development
Bank through a cumbersome financial and administrative process that wastes valuable time.
“The effect of the conflict over Sankuru,” André stated simply one afternoon, as he and I stood
in the sunlight outside BCI's offices, “was more bonobos dead, more elephants dead, more okapi
dead. Nothing has been gained from it.”
Though conflict in conservation and between scientists is far from unusual, it needs to be ad-
dressed precisely because of the impact it has on funding and managing reserves as well as on uni-
fying local people, and because of the way competition skews even the scientific reporting that we
take to be objective. The conflict with the Harts also highlights two different approaches: that which
prioritizes the values and methodologies of a scientific field and that which respects local know-
ledge and social boundaries of people as well as their leadership. In
Science and Public Reason
,
Harvard professor Sheila Jasanoff writes,
There is a growing need . . . for what we may call the 'technologies of humility'. . . . They
call for different expert capabilities and different forms of engagement between experts,
decision-makers, and the public. . . . They require not only the formal mechanisms of parti-
cipation but also an intellectual environment in which citizens are encouraged to bring their
knowledge and skills to bear on the resolution of common problems.
Were they to frame their work according to the goals, knowledge, and social boundaries of the local
people, the Harts might be significantly more successful. Their strengths clearly complement those
of BCI, and had they chosen either to develop local capacity with BCI in eastern Sankuru or to es-
tablish their own protected area just to the east of it, both groups most likely would have been far
more successful.
Despite this conflict, however, the importance of Sankuru was again recognized internationally.
In December 2009, alongside Wangari Maathai, Jane Goodall, and Russ Mittermeier, BCI was
honored at the fifteenth Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
in Copenhagen, for its efforts to save Sankuru's huge rainforest. In her capacity as founder of the
What Is Missing? Foundation, Maya Lin granted BCI $12,500 to support their “Fair Trade” Com-
munity Carbon Initiative. She described Sankuru as “the largest REDD project in Africa and one
of the largest on earth” and stated, “we feel it is especially appropriate to support and endorse this
precedent-setting model carbon offset project. We congratulate BCI for the remarkable work it's
doing to help find solutions to the biodiversity and climate change crises.”
The Congolese also celebrated the achievement. Internationally known Congolese pop star Papa
Wemba, who had grown up in Sankuru, joined the effort just as Werrason had for Équateur, com-
posing and recording a song about bonobos and ACOPRIK.
Even as I write this, work continues in Sankuru. REDD projects cost millions to implement,
and the zoning of forests is arduous. Sankuru clearly does need more resources directed at conser-
vation, but the current funding will finally set projects in motion. ACOPRIK and BCI continue to
educate local conservationists, more than a dozen having finished their studies in 2012. For devel-
opment, André envisions one thousand agricultural starter kits going out, as well as fishing kits. Of
