Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean are one of the world’s ‘hottest’ ‘biodiversity hotspots’. However, this biodiversity continues to be threatened by habitat loss, and now, by climate change. The research reported here investigated the potential of species distribution modelling (SDM) as a plant conservation tool within Caribbean SIDS, using Trinidad as a case study. Prior to the application of SDM, ancillary analyses including: (i) quantification and mapping of forest cover change (1969 to 2007) and deforestation rates, and (ii) assessment of the island’s vegetation community distribution and associated drivers were carried out. Community distribution and commercial importance and global/regional rarity were used to generate a list of species for assessing the potential of SDM within Trinidad. Species occurrence data were used to generate species distribution models for present climate conditions within the SDM algorithm, MaxEnt. These results were assessed through expert appraisal and concurrence with results of ecological analyses. These models were used to forecast suitable species climate space forty years into an SRES A2 future. Present and future models were then combined to produce a ‘collective change map’ which showed projected areas of species’ range expansion, contraction or stability for this group of species with respect to Trinidad’s Protected Areas (PAs) network. Despite the models being indicative rather than accurate, it was concluded that species’ climate space is likely to decrease or disappear across Trinidad. Extended beyond Trinidad into the remainder of the Caribbean region, SDM may be a crucial tool in identifying which PAs within the region (and not individual islands) will facilitate future survival of given target species. Consideration of species conservation from a regional, rather than an individual island perspective, is strongly recommended for aiding the Caribbean SIDS to adapt in response to climate change.

This thesis deals with the problematic question of aid as a helping hand to states that are in the process of developing democracy. It focuses on the Sub Saharan African region as a critical case, and furthermore upon the aid contributions made by the European Union during the time period of 1996-2006. The main ambition is to explore the real effect of aid on the democratic process, but also to explore other variables that might have effect. The method used is regression analysing of a database called The Quality of Government database Cross – Section Time-Series May 2008. The database has later been modified to suit my specific needs and aid has been recoded. This thesis is meant to be a theory testing study, and the theories tested will be related to the independent variables such as aid as a democratic helping hand as well as theories of corruption, political participation and military rule in the search for democracy.

Dans un contexte qualifié d’ « économie du savoir », où la croissance de l’économie mondiale repose de plus en plus sur les activités intensives en connaissance, la thèse s’interroge sur la capacité de deux petits États insulaires en développement – Maurice et Trinidad – à s’adapter pour s'intégrer à cette dynamique. Ces anciennes colonies britanniques, membres du Commonwealth depuis leur accession à l'indépendance dans les années soixante, font état d’indicateurs de développement en constante progression et sont souvent considérées comme des modèles de réussite économique. La thèse étudie la mise en place des institutions dans ces pays et cherche à évaluer dans quelle mesure l’héritage de la période coloniale, à travers la trace qu'ils en conservent dans la période contemporaine, peut faciliter la transition de leurs économies vers les secteurs intensifs en savoir. Pour ce faire, elle retrace leur trajectoire de développement institutionnel et économique des origines jusqu’à nos jours et elle s’intéresse notamment aux mesures prises aujourd’hui pour doter le pays du cadre nécessaire à l’économie de la connaissance, en particulier à travers le rôle de l’enseignement supérieur en tant qu’outil fondamental pour former le capital humain. Tout en reconnaissant que certains des atouts dont disposent les deux pays pour s’engager dans ce processus avec succès peuvent être mis en relation avec leur passé colonial, la thèse approfondit l’hypothèse que leur transformation en économies de la connaissance risque aussi d'être entravée par des caractéristiques héritées de cette période et qui, des décennies après l'accession à l'indépendance, freinent une large diffusion de la connaissance au sein de leur population. / At a time when economic growth is thought to be driven primarily by knowledge, the purpose of this research is to analyse to what extent two Small Island Developing States – Mauritius and Trinidad – are adequately equipped for this new economic context. As former British colonies, they both joined the Commonwealth upon gaining independence in the nineteen-sixties and they have since largely succeeded in overcoming their initially unfavourable conditions. Today, their good political, economic and social development is widely acknowledged. The main focus of this research is to evaluate how far colonial legacy, which is still visible in the contemporary institutions of both these states, can favour the transition they wish to undertake towards knowledge-intensive activities as drivers of economic growth. For this purpose, the research analyses the development trajectory followed by their institutions and their economy spanning the whole period of their colonial and post-independence history; additionally, this research considers the steps which are undertaken nowadays to build the framework required to foster a knowledge economy by studying more specifically the role of higher education as an essential tool for human capital formation. While upholding that some of the assets which could help them achieve their objectives can be linked to their colonial past, the research contends that the transformation of these two countries into knowledge-based economies could be hindered by the legacy of colonisation on some of their current features and which, decades after gaining independence, impedes the widespread diffusion of knowledge amongst their population.