Community Forest Management as Virtualism in Northeastern Madagascar

Abstract

In Madagascar, as elsewhere, decentralization and devolution of natural resource management to local, community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) institutions have been major approaches for the increased engagement of local people in conservation projects. Using virtualism, a set of theories linking abstract models to their implementation in policy, I explore the implementation of CBNRM in the periphery of the newly established Makira Natural Park in northeastern Madagascar. I show that the imposition of an ill-suited model of CBNRM led to community-based institutions becoming instruments of coercion rather than empowerment for community members. Madagascar’s CBNRM legislation implied communal land tenure arrangements, the legitimacy and comprehensibility of written contracts, and an overly onerous regulatory environment prior to decentralization - none of which held true for Makira communities. In Makira, the virtualizing vision of CBNRM led to the further marginalization of already marginal people.