Guillaume Vama
Guillaume Vama is a New Caledonian agroforestry entrepreneur and activist of Kanak ethnicity. He participated in the pro-independence 2024 New Caledonia unrest and was arrested and incarcerated by the French government in 2024.
Early life
Vama was born and raised on the Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. As a young adult, he participated in the European Solidarity Corps, taking part in a project in Hungary, where he made contact with a Hungarian permaculturalist at a university.On return to New Caledonia, he obtained a certificat d'aptitude professionnelle at the Chambre d’Agriculture de Nouvelle-Calédonie.
Career
He subsequently founded an association called TRADTECH, to complement modern agroforestry science with traditional techniques, and an association called Agir NC, to encourage entrepreneurship in agroforestry.Political activity
He was arrested in mid-2024, during the 2024 New Caledonia unrest, and accused by French authorities of being a member of the pro-independence Cellule de coordination des actions de terrain. While incarcerated, he was transferred to Bourges, in metropolitan France.As of February 2025, he remained incarcerated in Bourges.