In this 9-paper, Casti argues for a participatory zoning model for
environmental conservation programmes. The strategy is aimed at both preventing "conflict
between local communities and international agents" and encouraging economic development in the
local community. The proposed method, according to the author, is innovative in
two respects

The model draws on the idea of cartographic semiosis, "a
theory whereby the drawing of a map must not be severed from an analysis
of territory, for maps act as mediatory agents between a given society and its
territory." The map, with its communicative power, is seen not only as
descriptive, but prescriptive. The idea that the map is an objective mirror of reality is rejected. Rather, a map is a means of communication, with the
ability to influence those who interpret it and the decisions that they make.
The participatory zoning model aims, through the involvement of local
communities in participatory mapping, to introduce a representation of the social
value of territory into the territorial planning
conversation.



Casti describes the participatory zoning model by drawing on experience of the
ECOPAS (Ecosystèmes Protégés en Afrique Sahélienne) Programme, in which this strategy was
used to map the W Park, which extends over parts of Benin,
Niger and Burkina Faso.

In order to ensure that maps reflected the local social
practices, the information collection took part in two stages:

Collation of these two data sources "yielded a representation of the
socio-territorial layout at the peripheries of the Park, and served, above all,
to highlight change factors and to suggest plans and modes of
intervention." Both regional and local maps were created, with regional
maps provIding a basis for comparative analysis and local maps highlighting
"community values and knowledge items which conventional methods of inquiry
would have neglected."



[This paper was presented at the International
Conference on Nature held in Bangkok in November 2004]