A simple ecological model underlies contemporary fire policy in many West African countries. The model holds that the timing (or seasonality) of annual savanna fires is a principal determinant of vegetation cover. The model's origin can be traced to the ideas held by influential colonial scientists who viewed anthropogenic fire as a prime force of regional environmental degradation. The main evidence in support of the model derives from the results of a series of long‐term burning experiments carried out during last century. The experimental results have been repeatedly mapped onto fire policy often taking the form of a three‐tiered model in which fire exclusion is considered the ultimate management objective, late dry‐season fire is discouraged and early dry‐season fire is allowed but only under specific, often state‐controlled circumstances. This paper provides a critique of contemporary fire policy in the region and the fire ecology model on which it is based. Through an analysis of burn scars for the 2002–3 fire season generated from ETM+ imagery, the study documents the spatiotemporal pattern of burning for an area in southern Mali. It argues that current policy, which is informed by an a‐spatial model, cannot adequately account for the critical pattern of burning that is characteristic of the region. A reinterpretation of the burning experiments is presented in light of four factors: empirical data; recent developments in patch‐mosaic theory; historical evidence on the effects of fire suppression; and data on indigenous burning strategies, all of which suggest a need to reconsider current fire policy.

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D’une superficie de 225 000 ha, la Réserve de biosphère de Yangambi (République démocratique du Congo) est l’une des principales aires protégées menacées par l’anthropisation dans la région. Malgré son appartenance au réseau mondial des réserves de biosphère depuis les années 1970, les connaissances sur les dynamiques d’occupation du sol y sont encore lacunaires. Une démarche fondée sur l’analyse d’images (Landsat TM, ETM+ et OLI) et la réalité du terrain a été mise en œuvre pour étudier la dynamique d’occupation des sols de la réserve entre 1986 et 2016. Le taux annuel de déforestation est passé de 0,18 % au cours de la période 1986-2003 à 0,38 % en 2003-2016. Durant cette dernière période, la forêt primaire a connu un taux de déforestation plus élevé qu’en forêt secondaire (respectivement 4,5 % et 0,4 %). Quatre zones aux dynamiques socio-environnementales spécifiques ont été identifiées, nécessitant des approches de gestion différentes. Il s’agit notamment de la concession de l’INERA, des zones proches d’axes principaux de circulation, des zones situées sur des axes routiers plus ou moins abandonnés et des zones isolées du cœur de la réserve. Les principales causes de déforestation mentionnées par les habitants sont l’agriculture itinérante sur brûlis (54 % des ménages), l’exploitation artisanale des minerais (17 %) et la fabrication des pirogues (8 %). La pression démographique, sans amélioration du niveau de vie des communautés ou des techniques agricoles, et le développement du réseau routier, favorisant les échanges commerciaux, en sont les causes sous-jacentes. Cette dynamique de déforestation dans une forêt rattachée au réseau mondial des réserves de biosphère entame l’objectif fixé par l’État d’étendre le réseau d’aires protégées à 15 % du territoire national.

This paper uses an original integrated theoretical framework to reveal the mechanisms behind socio-economic differentiation in the changing patterns of access to shea in western Burkina Faso, in the context of globalization of the shea nut trade and internal migrations from both the Mossi Plateau and the Sahelian zone. Based on more than 200 interviews, we unravel the complex dynamic mechanisms of changes in access to shea. We show that negotiations result in reduced access to shea for late comers as well as for people with a limited number of shea trees in their fields, since areas where shea is managed as a common-pool resource are becoming less accessible. However, we also demonstrate that late comers are not powerless in the face of first comers' claims to shea. Our results should help policy-makers and project-based activities concerning shea to focus more on issues related to access to this resource. bs_bs_banner 1 AAK (AarhusKarlshamn AB, Sweden) accounting for 60 per cent of the buying market, IOI Loders Croklaan (IOI group, Malaysia) and 3F (Foods Fats and Fertilizers Ltd, India) 498 Karen Rousseau et al.

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Dry forests today are managed following the standards of scientific forestry imported in the tropics in the XIX th century by the colonial empires. The model proved efficient to control deforestation and regulate production but its evolution even after decolonization increased the segmentation between forests and agriculture and the lack of consideration for local knowledge by the forest administration. The process of decentralization of forest management that disseminated in the 1990s aimed at bringing back local communities within the formal management of forests. However the results of this process, often restricted to a simple transfer of tools and techniques, have fallen below expectations. If discourses shifted towards a better recognition of local needs, knowledge and constraints, the day-to-day implementation of participatory forest management in the dry lands remains fraught with administrative inefficiencies and a mistrust of local communities. Sustainable management of dry forests is yet to be invented.

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The participation of local communities in the governance of protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo is challenged by several external and local factors. This article aims to understand the representation of local communities and factors that influence their participation in the governance of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Three principal sources of information (archival records, focus group and semi-structured interviews) were used to collect data. The results indicate a top-down participatory approach. The cumulative failure of several projects in the context of local development has led to different perceptions by local communities of their role in the participative governance of Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Initiatives in participatory management and local development only function during the lifetime of externally-funded projects when initiators are present in the intervention area. The results call into question formal claims made by both conservation projects and the Congolese government regarding the actual participation of local communities in the governance of Biosphere Reserves. Furthermore, although Biosphere Reserves in DRC are recognized as part of the national network of protected areas since 2002, their management is still not aligned to either the Seville Strategy or the statutory framework of the world network of Biosphere Reserves. To achieve this, local development initiatives need to focus on poverty alleviation (through the diversification of income sources, entrepreneurship, farmer training and the creation of employment opportunities) and a better understanding of local practices and cultures in the design of such projects.