Community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) was introduced in Benin in the early 1990s. Because of the initially positive results, the Forest Department decided to continue and scale up this participatory approach to all Benin's protected areas. Focusing on the relationships between the...

This paper investigated how and why the issue of trust building between the park direction and the local communities gave way to a hidden conflict in the participatory management of the Pendjari national park (PNP) in Benin, and how it was managed. The findings revealed that calculus-based trust...