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Madagascar is one of the most biologically diverse places on the planet, the result of 160 million years of isolation from the African mainland. More than 80% of its species are not found anywhere else on Earth. However, this highly diverse flora and fauna is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation and the island has been classified one of the world's highest conservation priorities.
Drawing on insights from geography, anthropology, sustainable development, political science and ecology, Conservation and Environmental Management in Madagascar provides a comprehensive assessment of the status of conservation and environmental management in Madagascar. It describes how conservation organisations have been experimenting with new forms of protected areas, community-based resource management, ecotourism, and payments for ecosystem services. But the country must also deal with pressing human needs. The problems of poverty, development, environmental justice, natural resource use and biodiversity conservation are shown to be interlinked in complex ways. Authors address key questions, such as who are the winners and losers in attempts to conserve biodiversity? And what are the implications of new forms of conservation for rural livelihoods and environmental justice?
Introduction: Conservation at the Crossroads Ivan Scales and Barry Ferguson
Part 1: The Biodiversity and Environmental History of Madagascar
1. Explaining Madagascar's Biodiversity Joerg Ganzhorn, Lucienne Wilme and Jean-Luc Mercier
2. Early Human Settlers and Impacts on Madagascar's Flora and Fauna Robert Dewar
Part 2: The History of Environmental Management in Madagascar: Myths, Narratives and Received Wisdoms
3. Deforestation in Madagascar: Debates over the Island's Forest Cover and Challenges of Measuring Forest Change Bill McConnell and Christian Kull
4. The Drivers of Deforestation and the Complexity of Land Use in Madagascar Ivan Scales
5. A Brief History of State-Led Forest Management Alain Bertrand and Pierre Montagne
6. The Roots, Persistence and Character of Madagascar's Conservation Boom Christian Kull
Part 3: From Parks to People and Back Again
7. The Transfer of Resources Management Rights to Local Communities Jacques Pollini, Neil Hockley, Frank Muttenzer and Bruno Ramamonjisoa
8. Conservation Politics in Madagascar: The Expansion of Protected Areas Catherine Corson
9. The Durban Vision in Practice: Lessons on Creating Protected Areas for Communities and for Biodiversity Malika Virah-Sawmy, Charlie Gardner and Bernardin Rasolonandrasana
10. Contrasting Visions of Nature Jeffrey Kaufmann
Part 4: Making Conservation Pay - Market-based Mechanisms and the Commodification of Madagascar's Nature
11. Ecotourism, Community Based Tourism and Voluntourism in Madagascar: Connections to Conservation and Development Barry Ferguson and Al Harris
12. The Political Economy of Bio-Prospecting in Madagascar Ben Neimark and Laura Tilghman
13. The Commodification of Madagascar's Forests? REDD+ and payments for Environmental Services Laura Brimont and Cecile Bidaud
Conclusion: Looking Back and Thinking Ahead: The Future of Conservation in Madagascar Barry Ferguson and Ivan Scales
Ivan Scales is Lecturer in Human Geography, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, UK. He has worked in Madagascar for ten years, including for the Tropical Biology Association.
"The relations between society and nature in Madagascar are complex and often misunderstood. This book offers new light on this subject by exploring the social, political and economic dimensions of conservation and development challenges."
– W.M. Adams, Moran Professor of Conservation and Development, University of Cambridge, UK
"The challenges laid down by Scales are a must read for those seeking to understand the current plight of the island and anyone with an interest in the environmental future of Madagascar [...] It is a timely text that should be required reading for anyone seeking to acquaint themselves with the environmental problems of Madagascar. The work offers very good socio-economic and political background on the island's conservation history, and, with an eye to the future, the concluding chapter offers suggested research and policy priorities that need to be addressed."
– Clive Nuttman in Conservation Biology (2015)
"It tries to look at both the misinformation that has underlain much of the received wisdom on conservation in Madagascar, while also examining in considerable detail the politics of conservation and environmental management [...] In summary, a useful book."
– Bulletin of the British Ecological Society
"The volume is highly interdisciplinary and international, and its overarching concern is the sometimes cooperative, sometimes antagonistic relationship between environmental conservation and human development. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students and researchers/faculty."
– CHOICE, W. Arens, Stony Brook University
