Mahafale Grassroots Communities and the Conservation of Forest Resources

The aim of this study is to assess the scope and limits of the Gélose law and the GCF decree, using management transfers established on the outskirts of a protected area in the drought-dominated zone. In this context, the Mahafale plateau, home to Tsimanampesotse National Park, was chosen to test three hypotheses concerning 25 management transfers: (i) the level of participation of the grassroots community depends on its level of education, and non-participants at the lower end of the scale do not want to get involved in matters they consider obscure and dangerous; or they simply protect their interests by exploiting renewable resources; (ii) the stability and success of the management transfers studied are ensured by customs and traditional social organization on the Mahafale plateau; and (iii) the management transfers studied fail to achieve sustainable management objectives due to the Mahafale communities' diminished access and use rights, as well as to the geographical situation and climate change that weigh heavily on their terroirs.