Grantee Research Project Results
Study of Land Use Issues Characterizing the Ambalavao-Andringitra Region of Madagascar
EPA Grant Number: GF9500572Title: Study of Land Use Issues Characterizing the Ambalavao-Andringitra Region of Madagascar
Investigators: Kull, Christian Arthur
Institution: University of Colorado at Boulder
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: September 1, 1995 through January 1, 2000
Project Amount: $29,750
RFA: STAR Graduate Fellowships (1995) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Academic Fellowships
Objective:
The central purpose of this project is to study the contextual factors, opportunities, and regional processes driving land use in Madagascar. The primary objective of the proposed study is to contribute to the understanding of environmental-society relationships in order to help the Malagasy better plan for an environmentally sustainable future. The study will investigate in detail the land use issues characterizing the Ambalavao-Andringitra region at the southern end of the Malagasy highlands. Here ethnic Betsileo farmers balance rice irrigation with dryland crops and cattle herding, while the World Wide Fund for Nature attempts to establish an integrated conservation and development project centered around the unique ecology of the Andringitra mountains. Land use is a key issue in this region, as agriculture, grazing, conservation, tourism, and mineral interests vie for the land. First this study will document the changes in the land use in the Ambalavao-Andringitra region through air photo, archival, and field research, following the example of Tiffen. The study will map historical and current land use patterns onto FTM topographic maps using a Zoom Transfer Scope, and subsequently analyze land use change using a geographic information system software package such as IDRISI. Archival sources, such as Perrier de la Bathie's (1927) account of the Andringitra massif or Dubois' (1938) monograph of the Betsileo people, will complement this analysis. The second phase will employ a political ecology framework to examine the contextual forces that drive land use and environmental change in the study area. Political ecology is a theoretical framework that combines the concerns of ecology with a broadly defined political economy. It is an approach that synthesizes political-economic, ecological, and other explanatory theories in an attempt to understand phenomena such as land use change. Political ecology often emphasizes a historical approach, and has been applied in studies of resource degradation, environmental activities, agricultural transformation, and ethnic conflict, particularly in the Third World. The third and final element of this proposed study is to tie the above understanding of the political ecology of land use into environmental planning for sustainable development. The study will investigate the roles played by local citizens, international environmental and development aid organizations, and the government in shaping future land use. To accomplish this goal the study will analyze the efforts of WWF in its Andringitra Integrated Conservation and Development Project through the data and field evidence collected in the study of land use, supplemented by specific interviews of project officials.
Supplemental Keywords:
RFA, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Ecological Indicators, International, Environmental History, Ecosystem Protection, Ecology, Urban and Regional Planning, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Social Science, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Sociology, Ecology and Ecosystems, political ecology, Malagasy Highlands, land use characterization, Africa, sustainable development, land use, land use change, Madagascar, Ambalavao-Andringitra Region (Madagascar), land use and sustainabilityProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.