When will community management conserve biodiversity? Evidence from Malawi

Both development practitioners and conservation organizations are focused on community ownership and management of natural resources as a way to create incentives for the conservation of biodiversity. This has led to the implementation of a number of large community-based conservation projects in su...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports,
Autor Principal: Hecht, Joy E.
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Idioma:Anglais
Publicado: Field Actions Science Reports 2008
Acceso en liña:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descripción
Résumé:Both development practitioners and conservation organizations are focused on community ownership and management of natural resources as a way to create incentives for the conservation of biodiversity. This has led to the implementation of a number of large community-based conservation projects in sub-Saharan Africa, in countries including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda. While the concept is logical, and valuation studies may suggest that conservation is more valuable than other uses of the resources in some areas, there has been little detailed analysis of the financial costs and benefits to the communities, to determine whether they would actually have an incentive to conserve if they had more extensive legal rights to the resources. This paper assesses the conditions under which this approach may be viable, based on a valuation study of the resources of Mount Mulanje in southern Malawi.