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Book chapter Book chapter Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Conservation in the Sahel: policies and people in Mali, 1900-1998
Author:Benjaminsen, Tor A.ISNI
Book title:Producing nature and poverty in Africa
Year:2000
Pages:94-108
Language:English
Geographic terms:Mali
France
Subjects:colonialism
legal history
agricultural policy
forestry
Abstract:Studies within environmental history have demonstrated how European conservation ideology has influenced colonial, and later national, environmental policies in Africa. In francophone West Africa, a preservationist approach to nature conservation was installled by the colonial power. This policy was based on the claim of serious environmental degradation taking place due to local overexploitation. The history of forest legislation in Mali is traced in this essay. Social and ecological effects of various forest laws and regulations from 1900 to the present are analysed. A system of permits for use and fines for rules violations was created by the French colonial government, and a paramilitary Forest Service was made responsible for implementing the policy. This oppressive policy persisted after independence. With democratization in 1991, a decentralization reform was introduced in Mali. This reform has been encouraged by international trends of privatization, enclosure of land and resources, and the disengagement of the State. However, it remains to be seen whether real decisionmaking power in natural resources management will be allocated to the local level. Bibliogr., notes, ref.
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