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too little was paid to the needs of local communities in which the parks and fences 

 were located. Forest and park departments typically viewed their job as one of 

 enforcement, keeping people away from resources, collecting fines, and punishing 

 offenders. 



• Economic incentives often promote the short-term exploitation of resources. In 

 Madagascar, for example, the Forestry Department used to charge the same fee for 

 cutting pine trees as for harvesting the rare Palisandra — a tree that would take a 

 century to regenerate. In the Sahel, natural woodlands use to be cleared for the short- 

 term cropping of peanuts or millet, which the depleted soil was unable to sustain for 

 more than a few years. 



• Land tenure regimes and the lack of local authority often limit the degree to which 

 people are willing to manage resources wisely and sustainably. Too often people do 

 not have secure use rights to land and trees and thus lack the incentive to use such 

 resources responsibly. 



• Finally, the environment in Africa is so diverse and complex that single-issue 

 solutions put forward by donors and governments can often lead to confusion, wasted 

 resources, and even more deterioration. 



These problems are exacerbated by the impacts of conflict. The environmental 

 consequences of conflict in the Horn of Africa, in Angola and Mozambique, and in Liberia 

 cannot be understated. At the same time, scarcities of land and other resources often are 

 fundamental causes of conflict. These factors have contributed directly to the on-going 

 tensions in Rwanda and Burundi. 



