The Guesselbodi experiment: Bushland management in Niger

This article discusses the Guesselbodi forest management plan in Niger, in outline form. From the design through beginning of implementation the project is interested in long-term sustainability of the Sahelian land resource and with popular participation. The parceled national forest is being managed with many goals, both of the researchers and local villagers to maximize the restoration of degraded land and biospecies and to be viable in the long and short-term to the region are the main priorities. If this outline is not exaggerated, it is a rare example of a complementary interaction of outside scientists and local knowledge and concern. It deals with the issues of indigenous management, ineffectiveness and destruction of straight production-oriented development, the difficulties of popular participation as research cooperation. The project deals with soil erosion, restoration, fuelwood tree species, carrying capacity for rangeland and farmland, windbreaks, water harvest, agroforestry, among other enlightened development topics.