Applying Behavioral Ecology and Behavioral Economics to Conservation and Development Planning: An Example from the Mikea Forest, Madagascar

Abstract

Governments and non-govermental organizations (NGOs) that plan projects to conserve the environment and alleviate poverty often attempt to modify rural livelihoods by halting activities they judge to be destructive or inefficient and encouraging alternatives. Project planners typically do so without understanding how rural people themselves judge the value of their activities. When the alternatives planners recommend do not replace the value of banned activities, alternatives are unlikely to be adopted, and local people will refuse to participate. Human behavioral ecology and behavioral economics may provide useful tools for generating and evaluating hypotheses for how people value economic activities in their portfolios and potential alternatives. This is demonstrated with a case example from southwestern Madagascar, where plans to create a Mikea Forest National Park began with the elimination of slash-and-burn maize agriculture and the encouragement to plant labor-intensive manioc instead. Future park plans could restrict access to wild tuber patches, hunting small game, and fishing. The value of these activities is considered using observational data informed by optimal foraging theory, and experimental data describing people's time preference and covariation perception. Analyses suggest that manioc is not a suitable replacement for maize for many Mikea because the two crops differ in terms of labor requirements, delay-to-reward, and covariation with rainfall. Park planners should promote wild tuber foraging and stewardship of tuber patches and the anthropogenic landscapes in which they are found. To conserve small game, planners must provide alternative sources of protein and cash. Little effort should be spent protecting lemurs, as they are rarely eaten and never sold.

Community Management of Natural Resources: A Case Study from Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar

“…Medicinal plants (harvested by 59.4 %) and construction wood or firewood are also difficult to find on a satisfying level on the villagers' designated land. The results confirmed the findings of Garcia and Goodman (2003) and Tucker (2007) that the dependence of the villagers on forest products is still high as harvesting of all forest products in the park areas had been prohibited. However, wildlife management could change the situation as in other countries (e.g., Songorwa 2008).…”

“…In the medium term, the MNP should focus on projects that will ensure park conservation and rural development (Tucker 2007). First, some agricultural practices should be improved and diversified, thereby decreasing locals' reliance on forest products.…”

“…In the practice, it was difficult to obtain an equal representation of gender since female villagers were more difficult to approach than male villagers. Thus, two local translators (from both genders) were used to improve communication, linguistically and cross-culturally (Tucker 2007).…”

Cultural attitudes are stronger predictors of bushmeat consumption and preference than economic factors among urban Amazonians from Brazil and Colombia

“…The current literature on the drivers of bushmeat consumption has predominantly approached this question within the framework of rational choice theory, which assumes that individuals have a more-or-less perfect perception of the world through which they make decisions in a social vacuum (Lunt 2006, Tucker 2007). In the most basic formulation of this decision model, an individual with a given set of desires will seek to maximize utility by tallying benefits and costs (MacFayden 2006).…”

Consumption of Domestic Cat in Madagascar: Frequency, Purpose, and Health Implications

“…These results suggest that, despite their lower desirability and resultant lower price, cheaper meat sources such as bushmeat can nonetheless provide important nutritional benefits. However, cat meat has been omitted from previous meat consumption studies in Madagascar (e.g., Razafimanahaka et al 2012), despite the presence of cats in many areas of the country (Junge et al 2008) and their status as a possible source of meat among Malagasy people (Tucker 2007). This may be because cat meat is not typically consumed in western cultures (Medina 2007) and non-local researchers may not have studied all potential food sources if they were considered "inedible" in their home cultures (MacClancy, Henry and Macbeth 2007).…”