Contradictions in Agricultural Intensification and Improved Natural Resources Management: Issues in the Fianarantosa Forest Corridor of Madagascar

The international development profession is periodically buffeted by the infusion of new conceptual approaches that have a broad impact on both policies and project interventions at the local level. In Madagascar, as in many other countries, the government and donor organizations are turning to an ecoregional approach to natural resource management. Ecoregional planning is an outgrowth of the integrated conservation and development strategies (ICDPs) that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s Because the approach favors the protection of larger areas, ecoregional conservation and development strategies often seek to connect existing protected areas with biological corridors. As one of the key proponents of the approach notes, "in order to stop the destruction of native biodiversity, major changes must be made in land allocations and management practices. Systems of interlinked wilderness areas and other large nature reserves, surrounded by multiple use buffer zones managed in an ecologically intelligent manner, offer the best hope for protecting sensitive species and intact ecosystems" (Noss, nd., p.10). Corridors connecting one protected area to another enable the flow of species across larger distances, thereby contributing to species survival over evolutionary time. In Madagascar, policies have shifted away from the focus on protected area management to a broader regional and spatial analysis and a set of corresponding interventions at multiple scales from the village to the national level. The second phase of the 15-year Madagascar National Environmental Action Plan strongly supports a 1 The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not engage USAID or Chemonics International