Month: December 2022

Evah Ralalarisoa, internal control officer, and Lova Rakotonirina, internal control assistant, have carried outmissions in the protected areas over the last quarter. These field visits assess the effectiveness of the use of funds granted. The internal audit manual details the modalities of these missions.   The audit missions are generally structured in 3 parts: control of supporting documents for a convincing justification of expenses and interview with the managers concerning the current management structure in the field, the operational management at the site level as well as the regularity of the human resources status and files, and the capacity building of the financial team.   The visited protected areas respect a predefined rotation program except in exceptional cases. During the last quarter,the following were visited: Maromizaha managed by GERP (Eastern Madagascar, Alaotra Mangoro Region): Follow-up of the 2022 funding and inventory of the honey house materials and beekeepers’ equipment and …

FAPBM is proud to introduce to you the talents that have joined in 2022. At the Executive Management level, Mikanto Rambeloson, Financial Assistant and Lova Bryand Rakotonirina, Internal Audit Assistant have strengthened the team.   At the Board of Trustees, Vice President Ratafika Dimbiniaina has resigned as a trustee, for professional reasons. He has been replaced as Vice President by Mr. Bruno Rajaspera. And a new trustee, in the person of Mr. Alexis Befeno has joined FAPBM Board of Trustees. We invite you to discover them.   Alexis Befeno, Trustee   Currently team leader in the Industry Division of PROPARCO, a subsidiary of AFD Group dedicated to the private sector. He has extensive experience in portfolio management and business development. He is actively involved in the promotion of entrepreneurship in Madagascar, notably through the mobilization of investors.   Alexis Befeno has a Master of Business Administration from ESSEC Business School …

The world news about Madagascar has not been very positive lately. Indeed, Madagascar has been and continues to be faced with several challenges. However, there is a considerable amount of good news regarding efforts to preserve its biodiversity.   Under the co-leadership of FAPBM and MNP, communications officers from several conservation stakeholders have agreed to progressively align communication efforts to significantly strengthen support from different strategic audiences and target groups for the implementation of Madagascar’s protected area system as the number one approach to achieving the national biodiversity vision.   A creativity seminar   Group works have highlighted opportunities for improving awareness towards targeted groups; and a plan has been agreed upon on the next steps to take in order achieve this, in terms of the contribution of Madagascar’s protected areas as agents of change in reducing poverty among local communities and leading to sustainable development of local andregional economies. …

The release of FAPBM’s Impact Investing 2021 Report provides an opportunity to interview one of our experts: the Investment Committee President, Mr. James Ranaivoson, a member of the FAPBM Board of Trustees since 2019. Mr. Ranaivoson is a former advisor to the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Private Equity, New Products & Special Transactions department. He currently works as a Financial advisor in Luxembourg as founder and managing partner of WINDOF CAPITAL. He is also a member of Graines de vie Board, Luxembourg, an active NGO in reforestationprograms in Madagascar.   Q: Could you explain impact investing?   A: In 2022, FAPBM was able to finance around 30% of the total costs of 48 protected areas in Madagascar, covering more than 3.6 million hectares of Malagasy forests and coastal areas for the benefit of 3.5 million people. This funding comes primarily from FAPBM’s capital revenues.   Some donors prefer to contribute …

Dear partners,   Reflecting on the year of 2022, I realize that I can look forward with optimism for the new year to come.   Collaboration between with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Madagascar – FAPBM – MNP has made great strides, which are crucial to strengthening political and financial support for the entire protected area system. From the release of the white paper on the economic contribution of protected areas, the launch of the Madagascar Coalition for protected areas, and through the coordination workshop of protected area managers andthe Ministry, the initial results of these concerted efforts are encouraging. During 2022, funding of FAPBM has been maintained and even increased, in difficult economic and social context. This underlines the essence of the mission of FAPBM and shows the importance of our work, enabled by so many loyal donors and investors in our fund, and achieved by …

Montréal, December 10, 2022 – Today the Madagascar Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development launched the Madagascar Coalition for Protected Areas during a well-attended side-event of the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference. Madagascar has 123 Protected Areas across the nation, in the right places that are worth protecting as they represent the country’s biological diversity, natural heritage, and provide nature-based solutions to sustainable economic development needs of the country. From the 2003 Durban vision of tripling Madagascar’s protected areas to the 2014 Sydney pledge to strengthen marine protected areas, the Madagascar government and non-government organizations have worked on creating and managing the system of parks and reserves across the nation. Supported by mostly international donors, thousands of competent, dedicated local experts, working tirelessly with local communities and the beneficiary impacts are starting to show in some of the protected areas. These success stories provide critical insights in how protection of ecosystems …