Economic Growth, Biodiversity and Conservation Policies in Africa: an Overview

From the economic literature on the relationship between economic growth and environment pioneered by Grossman and Krueger (1991) and Shafik and Bandyopadhyay (1992) we first conduct a theoretical and critical reflection on the existence of a Kuznets curve for biodiversity. It appears that results are strongly contrasted. Then, we focus on the main biodiver- sity conservation policies implemented in Africa, i.e. protected areas and we discuss its effectiveness in achieving the dual objective of conservation and economic development for local communities.