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Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) have been defined as integrated development and conservation opportunities for remote and neglected transboundary areas. Local development is therefore a crucial pillar for TFCAs. TFCAs are not defined as purely conservation-based initiatives even if conservation organisations have historically triggered their creation and implementation. Hence, failing to promote the livelihoods of local communities within TFCAs means failing the intended TFCA objectives and endangering their sustainability. Today in most TFCAs, the integration of conservation and local development is rather the exception than the norm. Conservation objectives prevail under the assumption that it is by promoting the conservation of wildlife populations and supporting the development of a wildlife economy that local development will automatically follow.

The Research Platform “Production and Conservation in Partnership” (www.rp-pcp.org) challenges this assumption by emphasising that local development within TFCAs should be at least as supported as biodiversity conservation. Through applied research and post-graduate scholarships targeted at the future African TFCA experts, the RP-PCP has been implementing for the last 10 years research and development projects in SADC TFCAs. Synthetizing the main outputs of the platform in terms of global approaches for the sustainable management of TFCAs, this presentation will reflect on its experience to translate research into sustainable management actions in TFCAs.