Livelihoods strategies, deforestation and biodiversity conservation : a micro econometric analysis using rural households survey in the Tridom transboundary conservation landscape.

Summary This thesis examines the main determinants of rural households' livelihood strategies. It seeks to understand how these strategies impact small-scale deforestation and biodiversity conservation using a landscape approach. Using a unique database obtained through a face-to-face survey of a representative sample of 1035 households in the transboundary conservation landscape of the Dja-Odzala-Minkébé Tri-National (Tridom-TCL)-Congo Basin, this thesis aims to answer three questions and is organized into three chapters. The first chapter analyzes "how indigenous and local households formulate their preferences among livelihood strategies and means" using a spatial autoregressive Probit model. The second chapter examines "how and to what extent these strategies impact small-scale deforestation" using a spatial lag model. Given the nature of household-wildlife interactions, their main activities, the third chapter examines "household preferences for forest elephant conservation" using limited qualitative variable models.Financial assets (remittances and loans), distance to market, damage from human-elephant conflict, and ethnicity, specifically, autochthony are among the determinants of rural households' livelihood strategy choices in Tridom-TCL. We further show that household deforestation intensity varies significantly as a function of these livelihood strategies. Therefore, commitments to reduce deforestation can be promoted by taking into account the factors that govern households' livelihood choices. They can also be promoted by taking into account the interactions between households and their location in the landscape. Indeed, we find that there are imitation effects in the deforestation decision between households in the same neighborhood, with indirect spatial effects that may amplify small-scale deforestation.Cross-cutting solutions, to all three questions addressed in this thesis, for a sustainable landscape should aim to optimize the trade-offs between household livelihood strategies, forests and/or natural wildlife habitats. Policy makers should, for example, integrate large mammal mobility corridors, including forest elephants, in areas of high wildlife concentration and away from community spaces to reduce the risk of human-wildlife conflict.