title: How Effective Have Thirty Years of Internationally Driven Conservation and Development Efforts Been in Madagascar?
abstract: Conservation and development are intricately linked. The international donor community has long provided aid to tropical countries in an effort to alleviate poverty and conserve biodiversity. While hundreds of millions of $ have been invested in over 500 environmental-based projects in Madagascar during the period covered by a series of National Environmental Action Plans (1993-2008) and the protected areas network has expanded threefold, deforestation remains unchecked and none of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established for 2000-2015 were likely be met. Efforts to achieve sustainable development had failed to reduce poverty or deliver progress toward any of the MDGs. Cross-sectorial policy adjustments are needed that (i) enable and catalyze Madagascar's capacities rather than deepening dependency on external actors such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and donor countries, and that (ii) deliver improvements to the livelihoods and wellbeing of the country's rural poor.
authors.affiliation: Forest Management and Development, Department of Environmental Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.|Madagascar Wildlife Conservation, Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Patrick O
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3229-0124
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Waeber
authors.affiliation: University of Antananarivo, School of Agronomy, Water and Forest Department, Antananarivo, Madagascar.|Missouri Botanical Garden, Madagascar Research & Conservation Program, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Lucienne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wilmé
authors.affiliation: Independent Researcher, Saint-André, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Roger
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Mercier
authors.affiliation: Missouri Botanical Garden, Madagascar Research & Conservation Program, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Camara
authors.affiliation: Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa and Madagascar Program, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America.|Institut de systématique, évolution, et biodiversité, Unité mixte de recherche 7205, Centre national de la recherche scientifique/Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle/École pratique des hautes études, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Porter P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Lowry
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D065928:Forests; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality / Q000266:history; D008270:Madagascar; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D012424:Rural Population