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Aims: The aim of this study is to analyze the framework of dialogue and management of fires for a better involvement and sense of ownership of the actors in general and the local communities in particular. Specifically, this study seeks to (i) analyze the efficiency of the national framework of regulation and management of fires, (ii) analyze the effectiveness and the state of owning the legal provisions by the actors (iii) assess the perceptions of the actors, precisely local communities from the buffer zones of protected areas, on the prevention and management of forest fires.

Place and Duration of Study: Sample: Botany and Plant Ecology Laboratory, University of Lomé. Ecological site LAMTO, Ivory Coast, CRC Sophia, Antipolis France, between September 2011 and April 2015.

Methodology: The present study took place in the buffer zone localities of the national park Oti-Keran-Mandouri (OKM), the wildlife reserve of Abdoulaye (ABD) and the natural resources reserve of Togodo (TGD). Qualitative and quantitative methods were exploited on a complementary basis. The qualitative method was based on the techniques of collection and analysis of stakeholders’ perception of the legal fire regulation. The survey was dedicated to the local populations and the discussion topics concerned the knowledge and the understanding of the legal requirements of fires management and ecological consciousness of fire impacts. The quantitative method allowed to quantify the data collected to measure the frequencies and establish regularities between the answers. It was about the sample question techniques. A percentage of 1/1000th was applied to the resident populations and the index cards of inquiries revealed.

Results: The results show an ineffectiveness of the fire management frame as the interventions of several institutions are not coordinated. The majority of the inquired population (> 93 %) have an insufficient knowledge and understanding of the legal requirements of regulations of fires. Indeed, they are little informed (8%) about the existence of the regulations in force about fires and particularly of the deadline of the early fires (6%). The actors are mainly from the informal sector (70%) with a low rate of literacy and generally in areas where the rate of poverty is high. Even the qualified actors have little knowledge about the regulations on fires (5%) and women are more disadvantaged compared with men in terms of target for the sensitization and the capacity building of the population. The local leaders, who represent the relays of the administration at the local level, have a low level of knowledge (3%) to assure an effective spreading of information. This context explains the low level of participation of the actors to the implementation of the regulations on fires. However, the majority (78%) are well informed about the impacts of fires on the development of their land. So, awareness campaigns, which begun since 1980s seem to become a routine and approaches of solutions are more and more far away from the realities and the concerns of the local communities. Indeed, for the local fire management stakeholders, every fire regimes has its advantages and inconveniences. The early or late fires are not only temporal references to be fixed, but are dependent on the local ecological context and especially the burning objectives expected.

Conclusion: The national sensitization deserves to be supported by a wide restitution at the local level up to the hamlets where live the majority of the real local actors of fire management. The state of owning legal requirements seems to correlate to the level of elimination of illiteracy and poverty at the local level, hence the necessity, in the medium and long term, of an integrated approach of the management of fires and of the complete human development at the local level.