Is the local common management of forest in South-West of Madagascar a success despite economic benefits ?
We focus on what characterize households in villagers, more successful in protecting the forest compared to those villagers, where conflicts prevail. Selecting the successful compared with the unsuccessful villages was based on criteria from the previous chapters on deforestation rates and forest tenure (Razafy Fara and Ranaivoson). Most households welcome the option of local management contracts, despite the lack of pure direct economic benefits. Improved relations to the forest authorities are highly appreciated by the villagers and one of the defined advantages of the Gelose contacts. However, we could not identify any significant differences in proposals to better local management contracts in the future. All households, regardless of being located in successful or unsuccessful villages, request access to non-managed forest areas, where they can, if needed, encroach on the forest resources without restrictions. The transfer of management model in Madagascar, at least in this part of the country, did not change the attitude of villagers towards conservation of the forest.