Throughout history, societies have protected areas they consider biologically valuable.

More than 13 million people in the South are directly engaged in small-scale mining - many of whom are women and children - with another 80 to 100 million depend on it for some aspect of their livelihood.

In the following chapters, the question of sustainability and potential use of a fund to promote sustainability will be analysed in detail. The different analytical steps will include the following. 1. Identification of the issues of sustainablilty to the mining sector 2. Analysis on the regional level 3. Recommendations for activities of the fund 4. Examination of the financial base of the fund

Gwendégué is home to a series of communities settled in the south-eastern part of Burkina Faso and includes people of diverse ethnic origin. Each village has its own economic model that defines how local natural resources are to be exploited and how the various types of management and usage rights are distributed. Fishing on the floodplains is a production system organised locally and this paper looks at the rules and regulations which govern it and the impact of development projects on this customary system.

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In south-west Burkina Faso, conflicts between farmers and herders are becoming more and more frequent. These conflicts originate in competition over access to natural resources. A number of different actors are involved in managing these conflicts The paper presents these different actors and their roles, explores current conflict management practices in the region, the strengths and weaknesses of the different actors, and the impact of current political changes, such as land tenure reform and decentralisation, on these practices.