Protected Areas & Decentralisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

The last two decades have seen significant changes in the policy objectives of protected area systems. The World Conservation Strategy (WWF, IUCN …UNEP, 1980) was one of the first of many documents to link conservation with development agendas. However, a policy of integrated conservation and development has also raised a substantial number of conceptual problems on the compatibility of conservation and development agendas. The capacity of two systems of management in meeting both objectives in the Garamba ecosystem is explored: centralised management by the state and local systems of management by local institutions and individuals.