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L’utilisation du dina comme outil de gouvernance des ressources naturelles : leçons tirés de Velondriake, sud-ouest de Madagascar (with an Addendum in English) | The use of dina as a natural resource governance tool; lessons learned from Velondriake, south-west Madagascar [ 447-472 ]

Gildas Andriamalala and Charlie J. Gardner

Abstract
Afin de réduire le conflit entre la loi nationale et les coutumes et normes sociales (appelés dina), l’État Malagasy a progressivement décentralisé la gouvernance des ressources naturelles au niveau local. Les règles concernant l’utilisation des ressources dans les transferts de gestion et les aires protégées cogérés sont définies dans un dina, qui pourrait être reconnu par la loi. Dans cet article nous décrivons et analysons la mise en place et les procédures d’application d’un dina créé pour régir l’utilisation des ressources au sein de Velondriake, une aire marine protégée communautaire dans le Sud-Ouest de Madagascar. Le dina était élaboré par les membres de la communauté et homologué par le Tribunal. Les procédures d’application sont hiérarchiques, commençant au niveau du village mais avec recours aux niveaux supérieures en cas d’échec d’application. Nous discutons plusieurs problèmes associés avec la mise en place et l’application du dina, ainsi que des solutions proposées, incluant : Comment surmonter la cohésion sociale (le fihavanana), des contradictions avec la loi, et l’application du dina contre les migrants. Nous concluons avec une revue de l’utilisation des dina ailleurs à Madagascar, et nous suggérons que les dina imposés par des agences externes, s’ils ne sont pas alignés avec les aspirations de la communauté, ne seront pas respectés. Velondriake a évité de tels problèmes à travers une approche participative où le dina était élaboré par la communauté elle-même.

In order to reduce conflict between national laws and local customs and social norms (known as dina), the government of Madagascar has progressively decentralised the governance of natural resources to local levels. Rules regarding resource use within contractual management transfers and co-managed protected areas are defined within dina, which can be legally recognised. In this paper we describe and critically analyse the establishment and enforcement procedures of a dina created to govern resource use within Velondriake, a community-managed marine protected area in southwestern Madagascar. The dina was developed by community members and ratified in a court of law to become legally binding. It has hierarchical enforcement procedures, starting at the village level but with recourse to higher levels should local enforcement fail. We discuss several problems with the dina creation and its enforcement procedures, as well as proposed solutions; these include overcoming social cohesion (fihavanana), contradictions with pre-existing national law, and applying the dina against migrants. We conclude by reviewing the use of dina elsewhere in Madagascar, and argue that dina imposed by external agencies, when not aligned with community aspirations, will result in poor compliance with the rules. Velondriake avoided such problems through a fully participatory, inclusive approach to dina creation.


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General interest summaries (when available)
    In Madagascar, the state has historically struggled to effectively govern land and resource use in rural areas, and so has progressively decentralised management authority to local communities in the form of contractual management transfers and a new generation of community-managed (or co-managed) protected areas. In order to govern such sites, the state has adopted the dina, traditionally an unwritten set of rules and social norms that govern life in rural communities. A new analysis by researchers from Blue Ventures Conservation and the University of Kent has for the first time examined the creation and application of such dina as tools for the governance of new protected areas, using a case study of Velondriake, a community-managed marine protected area in southwest Madagascar. The article describes the process of dina creation, from village-level meetings in which rules were decided to the legalisation of the dina in court, and summarises the hierarchical enforcement procedures; rule-breakers are initially tried and fined in village meetings, but the legalisation of the dina allows villagers to call on legal procedures in case local enforcement fails. The authors then discuss several problems encountered with dina application in the area, in order to share experiences and examine the strengths and weaknesses of the approach; these include overcoming social cohesion, which can prevent villagers enforcing the rules against each other. After reviewing the use of dina elsewhere in Madagascar, the authors conclude that such agreements can only be effective when they reflect the wishes of the community, and that externally-imposed dina may lack legitimacy and will therefore not be respected.

    Español: Uno de los problemas de conservación en Madagascar ha sido el desarrollar estrategias de gobierno que regulen el uso del suelo y aprovechamiento de recursos naturales. Este ha consistido en descentralizar gradualmente los programas a través de convenios/contrato con comunidades rurales para la protección de áreas naturales. Este modelo se conoce con le termino local de “dina” o conjunto de reglas y normas de conducta no escritas que gobiernan la vida de las comunidades rurales. El articulo describe el proceso de formación de la “dina” para la comunidad de Velondriake, encargada de proteger una reserva marina en el suroeste de Madagascar. El artículo concluye indicando que estos acuerdos entre gobierno y comunidades rurales son efectivos en términos de protección solo cuando cuando los deseos de la comunidad se incorporan a la “dina”.

    Portugués: Em Madagascar o Estado historicamente despende esforços para tentar governar de forma efetiva o uso dos recursos naturais em áreas rurais e tem progressivamente descentralizado a autoridade de manejo das terra para as comunidades locais na forma de contratos de manejo para as novas áreas protegidas manejadas pelas comunidades (ou co-manejo). Para colocar essa estratégia de manejo em prática o governo tem adotado o dina, tradicionalmente um conjunto de regras não escritas e normas sociais que regem o estilo de vida em comunidades rurais. Uma nova análise desenvolvidas por pesquisadores da Blue Ventures Conservation e da Universidade de Kent pela primeira vez examinou a criação e a aplicação do dina como ferramenta de governança de novas áreas protegidas, usando um estudo de caso de Velondriake, uma área protegida marinha manejada pela comunidade localizada no sudoeste de Madagascar. O presente artigo descreve o processo de criação do dina apartir de reuniões nas vilas e das regras que foram decididas para a legalização do dina no tribunal local e por último, o resumo dos procedimentos de execução hierárquica dessa ferramenta; os infratores são inicialmente julgados e multados em reuniões em aldeias, mas a legalização do dina permite que moradores recorram aos procedimentos legais no caso da aplicação da lei local falhar. Os autores tem discutido vários problemas encontrados com a aplicação do dina na área, a fim de compartilhar experiências e analisar os pontos fortes e fracos dessa abordagem; isso inclui uma superação da coesão social que impede cada morador da vila de aplicar as regras aos seus pares. Após revisar o uso do dina em Madagascar, os autores concluiram que ambos os acordos podem apenas ser efetivos quando os mesmos refletem o desejo das comunidades e que externamente impõe o dina um leque de legitimidade e poderá não ser respeitado.
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   Tropical Conservation Science is an open-access e-journal that publishes research relating to conservation of tropical forests and other tropical ecosystems.

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