The main purpose of this planning grant workshop was to work with local, regional, and national stakeholders to develop a long-term research proposal for the SANREM CRSP program. Following is the abstract of the proposal submitted on September 30^th , 2005 for review. 

Ecological and socio-economic requisites for restoration of biodiversity and sustained resource use in corridor eco-regions: Madagascar and Senegal

S.M. Karpanty, Ph.D., Project Director, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

J.D. Fraser, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

E. Crist, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Science and Technology in Society, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

A.L. Hammett, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Wood Science and Forest Products, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

C. Welch, Research Scientist, Duke University

P.C. Wright, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Anthropology, Director of the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments, Stony Brook University

USAID works to conserve natural resources and biodiversity and to develop sustainable agriculture. Sustainable development relies on the presence of healthy, functioning ecosystems to provide goods and services, ranging from clean water, to rich soils, to ecotourism opportunities. Natural habitat corridors are priority areas for sustainable development activities. Habitat corridors preserve functioning ecosystems by regulating watershed dynamics, allowing gene flow among wild populations, and permitting animal migration and plant dispersal. Unsustainable agriculture threatens the function, connectivity, and survival of these corridor ecosystems. Thus, restoration of degraded landscapes adjacent to corridors is a priority worldwide, but a lack of scientific knowledge on factors promoting or inhibiting restoration drives restoration costs up and the likelihood of implementation down. We will integrate rapid rural appraisals, socio-economic interviews, market research, and ecological experiments to study and isolate the factors that promote or inhibit active and passive habitat restoration in the Ranomafana-Andringitra rainforest corridor in southeastern Madagascar . We will incorporate the results of this research into village-, regional-, national- and international-level training workshops to catalyze stakeholders to implement efficient and successful restoration activities that will benefit corridor biodiversity and stakeholders' livelihoods in both Madagascar and Senegal .