WELCOME to the personal web site of Pierre-Michel Forget. I am a scientist - Assistant professor (US) , Lecturer (UK) or Maître de conférences (F) - at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. I am studying Tropical Rainforests in South America, Western and Central Africa, and I am especially concerned by their conservation. My special interest is Carapa, a tree used by human beings to produce oil. Seeds are also a major food resources for animals, e.g. rodents, that disperse them, thus allowing trees to regenerate, and to produce seeds in a sustainable way. ___________________________________________________________ WHERE I AM NOW : At Nouragues, French Guiana. 1989-2009. 20 years after my post-doc started in Panama, after the fall of the wall in Germany, and the invasion of Panama by US Army, and me in the middle of the Panama Canal. What a year ! Now, on 6th November 2009, I'm in the middle of the Guianan rainforest, another jungle and indigenous people highly threatened by gareimperos and road projects. Two other "wars" to be won by environmentalists, ecologists, and anthropologists.
Here two illegal goldmines filmed on 6th November 2009 closeby the Nouragues Reserve on our way to the Nouragues field station.
I'm at Nouragues Field Station, French Guiana, between 6 November and 26 November to collect flowering plants and to monitor long-term tree phenology (2001+ program). 26 November-5 December on the littoral.
CURRENT ACTIVITY : I contributed to the exhibit at the Museum "Or des Amériques" - see the website http://www.mnhn.fr/or/ - with special emphasis on destruction of rainforest habitats and diversity, and consequences of mercury use by illegal gareimperos for indigenous populations, mostly amerindians who are currently poisoned by methyl-mercury.
ONE YEAR PASSED, ALREADY, and problems are still the same, but WWF now starts to communicate. Better later than never.
Causes and Consequences of a Tropical Forest Gold Rush in the Guiana Shield, South America David S. Hammond, Valéry Gond, Benoit de Thoisy, Pierre-Michel Forget, and Bart P. E. DeDijn (free pdf upon request or on line) http://ambio.allenpress.com
SOLIDARITE GUYANE http://pagesperso-orange.fr/solidariteguyane/index.htm ____________________________________________________________ NEXT Organized meeting : 5th International Symposium-Workshop on Frugivores and Seed Dispersal (1985-2010) 13-18 July 2010, Le Corum, Montpellier, France http://www.fsd2010.org
NEXT ATBC Meeting in Bali, Indonesia http://www.atbc2010.org ___________________________________________________________ Image below : Goldmining activity in the Guianas. (c) Pierre-Michel Forget.
