![]() ![]() This form of customary protection has thus contributed to the conservation of bat diversity (Robinson & Smith, Reference Robinson and Smith1997 Metcalfe et al., Reference Metcalfe, Ffrench-Constant and Gordon2010 Furey & Racey, Reference Furey, Racey, Voigt and Kingston2016). The sacred status that many human societies have conferred to caves has generally discouraged the disturbance of cave-dwelling species living within them (Sponsel & Natadecha-Sponsel, Reference Sponsel, Natadecha-Sponsel and Gottlieb2004 Sponsel, Reference Sponsel and Brunn2015). Given that many Malagasy bats are cave-dwelling species and that most depend on the customary protection of these sites, it is important to obtain a better understanding of the complex interactions between spiritual practices, taboos and protected areas in sustaining bat diversity. These results support previous studies documenting the erosion of customary institutions in Madagascar, including the loss of the spiritual values underpinning sacred sites. In view of these results our study questions the extent to which sacred sites, taboos and protected areas offer protection for bats in Madagascar. This may benefit bat conservation by creating incentives for bat protection, although extraction is often performed through destructive and exploitative practices with little benefit for local communities. Guano extraction was often tolerated in sacred caves in exchange for economic compensation. Legal protection of bats and caves through protected areas was often more widely acknowledged than customary regulations, although up to 30% of the interviewees reported consumption of bats within their communities. Similarly, only 22% of the interviewees recognized taboos inhibiting bat hunting and consumption. 76%) did not recognize their present-day sacred status. Although some caves were described as sites of spiritual significance for the local communities, most interviewees (c. Here, we used semi-structured interviews with 54 adults in eight villages to investigate whether sacred caves and taboos offer conservation benefits for cave-dwelling bats in and around Tsimanampetsotsa National Park, south-west Madagascar. Despite conservation discourses in Madagascar increasingly emphasizing the role of customary institutions for wildlife management, we know relatively little about their effectiveness. ![]()
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