Nicolas LESCUREUX
- Published: 16 February 2015
Chargé de recherche au CNRS
Ethnoécologue
Département Dynamique et Conservation de la Biodiversité
Equipe Interactions Humains Animaux
CEFE/CNRS
Campus du CNRS
1919, route de Mende
34293 Montpellier 5
France
Tél. : +33/0 4 67 61 32 87
Fax : +33/0 4 67 61 33 36
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D'abord formé à la biologie et à l'écologie, je me suis ensuite tourné vers l'ethnologie dont j'ai adopté et adapté les méthodes afin de mieux comprendre les relations entre humains et animaux, notamment à travers l'étude des savoirs écologiques et éthologiques des populations locales.
J'essaye ainsi de comprendre comment ces savoirs se construisent en interaction avec des animaux dont l'écologie et le comportement sont par ailleurs influencés par les pratiques humaines. Jusqu'à présent je me suis principalement intéressé aux relations entre humains et grands prédateurs (ours, loups, lynx) en me focalisant sur les savoirs, les perceptions et les pratiques des chasseurs, des éleveurs et des bergers.
J'ai également étudié le rôle du chien dans les relations entre humains et loups, ce qui me pousse à poursuivre l'investigation du rôle d'animaux que je qualifie d'"intermédiaires" dans les relations entre humains et grands prédateurs. L'écologie et le comportement d'autres espèces domestiques comme sauvages semblent en effet pouvoir influencer les relations que l'homme entretient avec les grands prédateurs au travers de réseaux de relations qu'il est nécessaire d'appréhender dans toute leur complexité et de manière dynamique.
C'est pourquoi je m'intéresse particulièrement aux pays dits en transition (Kirghizstan, République de Macédoine, Bulgarie, Pologne) ainsi qu'aux changements de paysage en Europe. Les relations entre loups, chiens et élevage me poussent également à m'intéresser au temps long en remontant jusqu'à la période de domestication du chien.
D'un point de vue plus théorique, mes recherches peuvent alimenter différents débats en anthropologie de la nature et questionner la séparation entre humains et animaux, entre nature et culture, et entre sauvage et domestique. Elles peuvent également aider à construire un point de vue critique sur des mouvements contemporains comme les mouvements de conservation, de réensauvagement, de libération animale, etc.
Mots clefs : ethno-écologie ; relations homme-animal ; savoirs locaux ; savoirs scientifiques ; pastoralisme ; élevage ; domestication ; chasse ; prédateurs ; ours ; loup ; lynx ; chien ; Kirghizstan ; Macédoine ; Pologne ; Bulgarie ; pays en transition ; paysage
After a university education in biology and ecology and a master training in environment, I made a PhD in Ethnoecology. I adopted an interdisciplinary approach based on ethnological methods to better understand human – animal relationships through an epistemological approach of local ecological knowledge and scientific knowledge. I try to grasp the way these knowledge are built in interactions with animal populations as well as the way human practices are influencing animal behaviour and ecology.
I notably studied relationships between humans and large carnivores (wolves, bears, lynx, and jaguars), focusing on livestock herders and hunters’ knowledge, perceptions and practices associated with these animals. This drove me to be interested in the role of what can be qualified as “intermediate animals” between humans and large carnivores.
Indeed the behaviour of dogs, game animals and livestock appears to have an impact on the relationships between humans and large carnivores through complex networks of relationships that need to be apprehended in their complexity and in a dynamic way. That’s the reason why I am notably interested in countries in transition such as countries from the former USSR or former Yugoslavia, as well as regions undergoing landscape changes like mountainous regions from Western Europe.
The relationships between wolves, dogs and livestock also drove me to be interested in human – animal relationships on the long term, going back to domestication of dogs and stock animals.
On a theoretical point of view, my studies can feed various debates in anthropology of nature and question the separation between humans and animals, between nature and culture and between wild and domestic. They can also help to build a critical point of view on contemporary movements such as various conservation movements, rewilding, animal liberation, etc.
Keywords : ethnoecology, human-animal relationships, local knowledge, scientific knowledge, pastoralism, livestock herding, domestication, hunting, predators, bears, wolves, lynx, dogs, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Poland, Bulgaria, countries in transition, landscape, wild, domestic, conservation
PUBLICATION LIST
Journal articles
Bredin, Y. K., N. Lescureux, and J. D. C. Linnell. 2018. Local perceptions of jaguar conservation and environmental justice in Goiás, Matto Grosso and Roraima states (Brazil). Global Ecology and Conservation 13:e00369.
Piédallu, B., P.-Y. Quenette, C. Mounet, N. Lescureux, M. Borelli-Massines, E. Dubarry, J.-J. Camarra, and O. Gimenez. 2016. Spatial variation in public attitudes towards brown bears in the French Pyrenees. Biological Conservation 197:90-97.
Linnell, J. D. C., P. Kaczensky, U. Wotschikowsky, N. Lescureux, and L. Boitani. 2015. Framing the relationship between people and nature in the context of European conservation. Conservation Biology 29:978-985.
Lescureux, N. 2014. Livestock Guarding Dogs in Europe: paying attention to the context to deal with complex human – wolf – dog relationships. Carnivore Damage Prevention News 10 : 31-35.
Lescureux, N., and J. D. C. Linnell. 2014. Warring brothers: the complex interactions between wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis familiaris) in a conservation context. Biological Conservation 171 : 232-245
Lescureux, N., and J. D. C. Linnell. 2013. The effect of rapid social changes during post-communist transition on perceptions of the human - wolf relationships in Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan. Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice 3: 4 (20 pages).
Savalois, N., N. Lescureux, and F. Brunois. 2013. Teaching the Dog and Learning from the Dog: Interactivity in Herding Dog Training and Use. Anthrozoös 26: 77-91.
Lescureux, N., J. D. C. Linnell, D. Melovski, A. Stojanov, G. Ivanov, and V. Avukatov. 2011. The King of the Forest. Local knowledge about European brown bears (Ursus arctos) and implications for its conservation in contemporary Western Macedonia. Conservation and Society 9: 189-201.
Lescureux, N., J. D. C. Linnell, D. Melovski, A. Stojanov, G. Ivanov, V. Avukatov, M. Von Arx, and U. Breitenmoser. 2011. Fear of the unknown: local knowledge and perceptions of the lynx in contemporary western Macedonia relevant for their conservation. Oryx 45: 600-607.
Lescureux, N., and J. D. C. Linnell. 2010. Les montagnes sont-elles les derniers refuges des grands prédateurs? Histoire des Alpes 15: 195-210.
Lescureux, N., and J. D. C. Linnell. 2010. Knowledge and Perceptions of Macedonian Hunters and Herders: The Influence of Species Specific Ecology of Bears, Wolves, and Lynx. Human Ecology 38: 389-399.
Lescureux, N. 2006. Towards the necessity of a new interactive approach integrating ethnology, ecology and ethology in the study of the relationship between Kirghiz stockbreeders and wolves. Social Science Information 45: 463-478.
Book chapters
Sabinot, C., and N. Lescureux. 2019. Local Ecological Knowledge and the Viability of the Relationships with the Environment. Pages 211-222 in O. Barriere, M. Behnassi, G. David, V. Douzal, M. Fargette, T. Libourel, M. Loireau, L. Pascal, C. Prost, V. Ravena-Cañete, F. Seyler, and S. Morand, editors. Coviability of Social and Ecological Systems: Reconnecting Mankind to the Biosphere in an Era of Global Change. Vol.1 : The Foundations of a New Paradigm. Springer, Heldelberg, Germany.
Lescureux, N. 2018. Beyond wild and domestic. Human complex relationships with dogs, wolves, and wolf-dog hybrids. Pages 83-98 in C. Stepanoff and J.-D. Vigne, editors. Hybrid Communities. Biosocial Approaches to Domestication and Other Trans-species Relationships. Routledge, London.
Lescureux, N., L. Garde, and M. Meuret. 2018. Considering wolves as active agents in understanding stakeholders perceptions and developing management strategies. Pages 147-167 in T. Hovardas, editor. Large Carnivore Conservation and Management. Human Dimensions. Routledge: London.
Lescureux, N., and J. D. C. Linnell. 2017. Savoirs éco-éthologiques et perception des ours bruns (Ursus arctos) par les chasseurs et éleveurs des montagnes de Sharr (République de Macédoine). Pages 235-268 in K. Hoffmann-Schickel, P. Le Roux, and É. Navet, editors. Sous la peau de l'ours. L’humanité et les ursidés : approche interdisciplinaire. Connaissances & Savoirs, Paris.
Linnell, J. D. C., N. Lescureux, and P. Kaczensky. 2016. Human Dimensions of Wild Equid Management: Exploring the Meanings of "Wild". Pages 121-132 in J. I. Ransom & P. Kaczensky. Wild Equids. Ecology, Management, and Conservation. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore.
Butler, J. R. A., J. D. C. Linnell, D. Morrant, V. Athreya, N. Lescureux, and A. McKeown. 2014. Dog eat dog, cat eat dog: social-ecological dimensions of dog predation by wild carnivores. Pages 117-143 in M. E. Gompper, editor. Free-Ranging Dogs and Wildlife Conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Lescureux, N. 2010. Approche ethno-éthologique des relations entre les hommes et les loups. In: Moriceau J.M. & Madeline P. Repenser le sauvage grâce au retour du loup. Les sciences humaines interpellées. pp. 111-125. Presses Universitaires de Caen.
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