Global conservation imaginaries and local realities: Rethinking community-based natural resources management in Northeast Madagascar

This study investigates the dynamics of a community-based protected area management system in northeast Madagascar, addressing three key questions: What is the relationship between local livelihoods and the protected area? How do the management system’s use zones compare to forest cover dynamics on the ground? How could the forest management system be reformed to better support both local communities and forest ecosystems? We employ a mixed-methods approach, combining interviews and focus groups with local residents, a PlanetScope-based land cover classification, and a review of existing documentation. We find that the forest is important for rural livelihoods, yet the management system does not offer sufficient economic benefits to counteract the drivers of land cover change. These drivers include logging as a poverty alleviation strategy, forest clearing for vanilla cultivation, and the farming of staple food crops. While forest management is based on a biosphere model with different forest use zones, it does not reflect realities on the ground. Moving forward, initiatives must address internal and external drivers of forest cover change. Locally, the management model needs to better reflect present land cover, promote alternatives to forest use, and deliver concrete benefits to those who engage in forest conservation. The local community is open to stronger forest preservation, provided it is accompanied by a significant livelihood-supporting benefit. Regionally, strategies are needed to restrict land use by outsiders who often encroach on the forest to cultivate vanilla or harvest timber, and to strengthen coordination across local, regional, and national scales of forest governance.