Beyond the land question

The book shows how environmentalist and developmentalist ideologies impact on the territory of indigenous peoples in the DRC as well as on their socio-economic conditions. It focuses its analysis on a case study of the Batwa pygmies expelled from the Kahuzi-Biega National Park Eastern DRC and living in the high altitude of its hinterland. It presents the current mode of access to natural resources (land forest and water) and maps the related conflicts. It outlines the different actors in the conflicts their stakes and discourses as well as the resistance strategies developed by the Batwa IPs to ensure access to the resources under conservation. In addition it presents the diversity of conservation visions between official structures and local communities and indigenous peoples.