Whose forests, whose voices? Mining and community-based nature conservation in southeastern Madagascar

This paper explores local experiences of private-sector led community-based nature conservation near Fort Dauphin, southeastern Madagascar through the analysis of a conservation zone managed in partnership between the Rio Tinto mining corporation, local government and local communities. The article assesses how new forms of social inclusion and exclusion are generated through changes in land and resource access. The main findings are as follows: the community-based conservation programs near the Fort Dauphin mine were effective at mobilising local people but inadvertently favored certain members of society over others, as they involved a legitimization of resource access by established landowners. This granting of resource rights to some local users entailed the exclusion of already marginalised groups of landless migrants. Without land to cultivate, these migrants were more directly dependent on forest resources for their survival. Their livelihoods were based on selling forest products such as timber and handicrafts, in addition to working the land of others. This rendered their social status and ability to participate in development programs limited. Non-resident or recently settled resource users’ voices had thereby not been adequately included in the conservation plans from the outset. Consequently, local landless migrants continued to break conservation rules, as they had no influence over the resource management process or realistic livelihoods alternatives. These circumstances reduced both the livelihood options of the poorest people near the mining site and the prospect of achieving equitable and sustainable natural resource management. RésuméNous proposons ici d’analyser des expériences locales intervenant lors du changement d’accès aux ressources naturelles dans le cadre d’un projet d’extraction minière et de conservation de la nature mené en partenariat entre une compagnie minière, le gouvernement local et les communautés riveraines d’un site minier près de Fort Dauphin, dans le Sud-est de Madagascar. Les informations ont été recueillies lors d’une année de recherches ethnographiques financées par le Conseil de Recherche Norvégien, aux alentours de la zone minière et de son site de conservation. Les changements d’accès à la terre et aux ressources naturelles induisent de nouveaux types d’inclusion et d’exclusion sociaux que nous avons étudiés ici. Nous montrons que les programmes communautaires de conservation de la nature et de développement local établis auprès du site minier ont permis de mobiliser les villageois riverains, mais ont par mé