ABSTRACT
The loss of tropical moist forests in West Africa constitutes a serious environmental issue which has attracted significant conservation and policy attention (see, for example, Fairhead and Leach, 1998; Martin, 1991). Dominant policy approaches to, and institutional arrangements for forest conservation in West Africa place emphasis on the establishment of protected areas, including national parks. Such institutional arrangements tend to rely on guard patrols and penalties to exclude local people, a strategy characterised as the 'fences and fines' approach by Wells et al. (1992) (see also Amanor, this volume). In general such approaches often fail to consider the needs, aspirations and values of the people whose livelihoods are most affected by conservation projects. Frequently, this results in protected areas assuming the status of contested terrain, both within and between local communities and external conservation institutions.
