We provide the first comprehensive inventory of the non-native plants on Madagascar since Perrier de la Bâthie's effort 80 years ago, and evaluate the characteristics and importance of this biota. Using botanical databases (especially the Tropicos Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar), published plant lists, field observation, and relevant literature, we inventory 546 introduced species that have naturalized, as well as 611 other introduced species that only exist in cultivation. We also list 211 species with unclear status, eight native species that have had different genetic stock introduced, and three endemics that have naturalized outside their native range. Of the naturalized species, 101 display invasive behaviour. Highly represented families include Fabaceae (224 confirmed introduced species), Myrtaceae (143), Poaceae (71), Cactaceae (52), Asteraceae (50), and Solanaceae. (33). Humans have been bringing plants to Madagascar since they colonized the island, mainly for their utility. A number of plants with native varieties but which also have long histories of human use and transport are ripe for further historical biogeographical research (including Eragrostis, Panicum, Sorghum, Dioscorea, Ziziphus, and Adansonia). The introduced flora is similar in composition to other tropical regions; its numerical size appears to confirm that poorer countries experience relatively fewer plant introductions. Madagascar's introduced species deserve more attention, not just through the rubric of invasion biology, but as plants that build new ecologies and that sustain human communities. (Résumé d'auteur

This article examines the origins and evolution of the terroir approach as an organizing idea in development planning in West Africa. We consider the evolving meaning of the terroir concept in three distinct periods: as a research approach crafted in a French geographical school; as a site for research-development programmes, and, most recently, as a tool for conservation planning, territorial restructuring, and land privatization. An important shift in the meaning of the terroir concept is apparent in its evolving uses. For the terroir school, the terroir came to represent the socio-natural heritage of a group in which its social organization and pattern of resource use became inscribed in the landscape. The concept took on new meaning in the late-1980s as an appropriate location for on-farm research by agricultural development planners. The terroir became both an alternative research site and a setting for mobilizing rural populations to adopt new land management and farming techniques. The meaning of the concept shifted again in the 1990s with the advent of the gestion des terroirs approach. In the hands of conservation and development planners, the terroir was conceived of as a scale of intervention for a host of government, aid donor, and NGO programmes. In summary, a significant change in the meaning of the concept has taken place from one in which the notion of local heritage was dominant to one that emphasizes territory and boundary clarification.

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Quand tu dis la vérité, n'oublie pas le mensonge. Proverbe sakalava Depuis un petit nombre d'années, la manière dont les pays occidentaux envisagent leur aide au développement est en cours de profonde transformation. Avant les années quatre-vingt ou, parfois, quatre-vingt-dix, le développement a surtout été conçu sur la base d'innovations techniques qu'il convenait de diffuser dans les sociétés cibles. Le progrès technique était en quelque sorte octroyé à des populations qui, le plus souvent, ne l'avaient pas demandé. Dans les milieux spécialisés, on ne pensait pas que cette verticalité de l' «aide» pouvait constituer un problème. Si la qualité de l'innovation était suffisante, elle diffuserait spontanément ses bienfaits, soit directement (chacun chercherait à imiter la réussite de son voisin), soit indirectement (celui qui n'adopterait pas l'innovation serait éliminé de la compétition économique). On sait que ce scénario n'a pas bien fonctionné dans la réalité. Très souvent l'innovation ne s'est pas diffusée, mais, plus grave encore, elle n'est pas parvenue à se maintenir durablement dans les lieux, pourtant bien circonscrits, où l'on avait choisi de l'implanter, souvent avec une forte assistance (technique, financière, politique ...) venue de l'extérieur 1. Les spécialistes du développement se sont employés à trouver une explication quasiment générale à ce problème. L'échec des dites interventions serait principalement lié à une «approche top-down» qui ne permet pas aux intéressés de s'approprier véritablement l'innovation. Il conviendrait d'inverser cette approche, de redécouvrir les savoirs paysans, de démocratiser les décisions, dappren