POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND CONFLICT IN ANKARANA, MADAGASCAR

Conflict over issues of land use in northern Madagascar reveals that p olitical control is situational and that rights to resources are ambig uous. In two cases, local farmers, the regional royal indigenous leade r, and international conservationists struggled to establish and maint ain the ability to use and manage the forested land to the west of the Ankarana massif. Political ecology provides a theoretical framework f or exploring the complex political negotiations that are an integral p art of all ecological interactions. In recognizing the complexity of s uch interactions, applied attempts to address issues of environmental degradation and disenfranchisement may also become more effective.