Sustainable conservation of protected forest areas

Located in an arid climate zone, with an economy still largely dominated by agro-sylvo-pastoral production, Burkina Faso has a relatively high population growth rate and is experiencing increasing pressure on natural resources. The country therefore faces a number of challenges, not the least of which is the need to reconcile the needs of the population with the need to maintain and even develop these resources. Although the problems are well known and are the subject of a great deal of thought and analysis, leading to the design of development policies and strategies by public authorities, NGOs and civil society organisations, the impact of significant action to translate the concept of sustainable development into concrete reality remains mixed. Initiatives aimed at involving local communities more closely are based on the evidence that any sustainable change requires the interests of the main stakeholders to be taken into account. This must be done within the framework of a genuinely participatory process, from the identification of problems to the implementation and monitoring of actions.