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Amherst College

Publication Date

Fall 2017

Program Name

Madagascar: Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management

Abstract

Community-based natural resource management is an increasingly more popular choice for governments to delegate power back to local communities to conserve the resources they rely on. In Madagascar, where much of the rural population provides for their livelihoods by using natural resources, this governance structure, in cooperation with delegated manager for assistance, presents an opportunity for economic development in cooperation with conservation efforts. This paper aims to better understand the role of community, NGO, and governmental actors in creating and executing community management structures. Through Participatory Rural Analysis and structured and semi-structured interviews, it explores what management transfers look like in practice in the Andapa basin of COMATSA-Sud New Protected Area in November 2017. An evaluation of public perceptions and understandings of existing associations and laws as well as their implementation overall reveals how multi-faceted the issue is. With the framework of good governance principles for protected areas (legitimacy and voice, direction, performance, accountability, and fairness), this paper concludes that communities need more resources, benefits, and autonomy to carry out comanagement effectively.

Disciplines

African Studies | Civic and Community Engagement | Environmental Law | Environmental Policy | Environmental Sciences | Environmental Studies | Forest Management | Forest Sciences | Natural Resources and Conservation | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Place and Environment | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

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