This new manual, on the management of protected areas in French-speaking Africa, is therefore welcome. Examining the different realities brought together under this name, from the national park, managed by state representatives, to community conservation areas, a new concept that includes the ownership of conservation by local populations, it is the first that, within an already limited library, is written in French.

Currently, curators and agents in French-speaking countries can only rely on the lessons received during their initial training; apart from rare refresher courses, it is then no longer possible for them to verify the validity of their work, to improve their knowledge, much less to share it on the basis of a document recognized by all. However, the existence of protected area managers in French-speaking Africa is punctuated by the questions asked them daily by their agents, the populations living in contact with protected areas, the visitors to these areas and the multiple governmental and non-governmental organizations that have an interest in the existence and sustainability of protected areas: it is based on the decisions they must make in response to these questions.

The authors of the manual therefore sought to provide these managers with a simple and clear instrument, offering both a framework for building their thinking and analysing the problems correctly, procedures for finding the appropriate response and indications for implementing this response.

They present a reasoned statement of knowledge and practices recognized by the best specialists in a form collected and for immediate use, treated in the perspective of decision-making and supervision of all those involved in protected areas. They thus offer men who are often settled in isolated places, with unequal means of action, at the same time a working tool, a training medium and a daily companion. At the same time, they draw up for us the emblematic portrait of the conservator of protected areas working in Africa today.