Diathesis Lab
Burkina Faso
Landscape and Territory of Protection and Preservation Unit of Arly (2006-2009)
The project has been realized within an inter-university scientific collaboration with the excellence Centr 2iE dof Ouagadougou and has been articulated in several steps:
Fieldwork: it has been possible to delve into social and territorial aspects of the peripheral zones of the Protection and Preservation Unit of Arly, in order to stress the key role played by the cliff of Gobnangou within the sacred practices of locals. The research investigates three main aspects of territorial organization: tradition, modernity and tourism potential.
Bibliographic research: in concerned issues related to the cartographic elaboration of the scenic shape, in the perspective of bringing back the connotative sense of territory, and it included catalogues of national and international libraries (University Departments of Geography in Ouagadougou, Paris 1, Napoli "L'Orientale" and Padova, Institut Géographique Burkinabè, Human Ecology Department of Vrije Universiteit of Brussel) as well as material provided by the main institutions involved in landscape studies (2iE, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Union Mondiale pour la Nature, Centre d'Études et de Recherche sur la Population pour le Développement, Institut National d'Études Démographiques).
2d and 3d cartographic testing with ArcScene, Sketch Up e GogleEarth: the maps showing terrain data have been produced involving the locals in tracing and representing their own places.
Realization of a cartographic system presented in several occasions:
- International Conference on Management of National/Natural Parks and Biodiversity Conservation in Africa, Accra - Ghana, 2-6 April 2007, presentation title: Participatory mapping and environmental conservation in Western Africa: the SIGAP Strategy
- Huitième conférence et exposition AfricaGIS (17-21 settembre, Ouagadougou - Burkina Faso), with photographic exposition La périphérie de l'Unité de Protection et de Conservation d'Arly
- publication: E. Casti e S. Yonkeu (eds), Parc Arly: conservation environnementale et développement local aux pieds de la Falaise du Gobnangou, Harmattan, Paris, 2009
