| Résumé: |
Alternative Livelihood Projects as well as Community-Based Conservation and Integrated Development Conservation Programs aim to conserve biodiversity and the environment, while improving the socioeconomic situation of local populations who live near protected areas or ecologically important and endangered landscapes. These initiatives are growing and well-funded. However, their effectiveness has not been proven yet, mainly because of the vast range of objectives they have and the resulting poor monitoring. With this master thesis, we tried to understand what ‘best practices’ influence the success of alternative livelihoods in conservation interventions, and how this success is defined by project managers. To achieve our objectives, we proceeded with the analysis of a conservation program (the ITHCP composed of 12 projects) applying this type of intervention. Then, we submitted the coordinators or implementers of 8 projects (a total of 9 questionnaires were completed) to a survey and conducted semi-structured interviews with 7 of the 9 respondents. Our results showed that diversifying ALIs is important to increase resiliency and reducing vulnerability for the beneficiaries. Linking alternative income activities with other types of ALIs was the more frequent combination. Our findings have also revealed that high degree of participation in the development and in the selection of beneficiaries and ALIs was fundamental to ensure the effectiveness of the intervention. Nevertheless, this high-level of involvement presented some challenges for the project managers especially in terms of time. Collaboration with local and national government also plays a role in the success of an ALPs especially by providing additional financial and/or technical support. We also draw the conclusion that, to have a better chance of succeeding, ALIs should last longer (at least five years). Even if it is not yet clear how the success of an ALI should be defined, it should be a combination of social, economic and ecological indicators. |