Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Market Women in a Central African Forest Reserve: The Interface of Wildlife Commerce and Conservation

研究生Lesley L. Daspit将在Melissa J. Remis博士的指导下，调查妇女在中非共和国赞加-桑加密林保护区（RDS）的商业和野生动物保护中的作用。迄今为止，关于中非和西非野生动物贸易的大多数研究都集中在男性猎人身上。妇女作为批发商、市场销售者和餐馆老板的角色很少受到关注。在RDS内，尽管野生动物数量有下降的迹象，但野生动物在妇女生计中所占的比重越来越大。目前的研究将集中在巴扬加的一群市场妇女身上，巴扬加是与RDS有关的最大人口中心。它还将探讨市场妇女活动与更广泛的养护和发展政策之间的关系。研究人员将结合民族志领域的方法，包括参与观察、非正式和半结构化访谈和调查。此外，采访和档案工作将在华盛顿特区、中非共和国的班吉和巴扬加进行，世界自然基金会和丛林肉危机工作组的主要人员将在非洲贸易网络中了解妇女的经历与性别在保护监测和政策制定中的重要性之间的联系。这项研究的结果将阐明妇女在波动的自然资源经济中的作用，突出性别如何调节获取和控制野生动物。此外，它还将认识到妇女是环境变化的推动者和在更可持续地利用野生动物方面的潜在关键角色，从而对更好地保护和发展政策和做法产生影响。最后，这项研究将有助于研究生的教育。

Graduate student Lesley L. Daspit will work under the supervision of Dr. Melissa J. Remis to investigate the roles of women in the commerce and conservation of wildlife in the Dzanga-Sangha Dense Forest Reserve (RDS), Central African Republic (CAR). To date, the majority of research on wildlife trade in Central and West Africa has centered on men as hunters. Women's roles as wholesalers, market sellers, and restaurant owners have received little attention. Within the RDS, wildlife is an increasing component of women's livelihoods, despite indications of declining wildlife populations. The current research will focus on a group of market women in Bayanga, the largest population center associated with the RDS. It will also explore the relationships between market women's activities and broader conservation and development policies. The researcher will employ a combination of ethnographic field methods including participant observation and informal and semi-structured interviews, and surveys. In addition, interview and archival work will be conducted in Washington, DC, and in Bangui and Bayanga, CAR, with key personnel at World Wildlife Fund for Nature and the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force, to contextualize the links between experiences of women within African trade networks and the importance of gender in conservation monitoring and policy formulation. Findings from this research will elucidate women's roles in fluctuating economies of natural resources, highlighting how gender mediates access to and control of wildlife. Further, it will have implications for better conservation and development policies and practices by recognizing women as agents of environmental change and potential key players in a more sustainable use of wildlife. Finally, the research will contribute to the education of a graduate student.