Sambava, October 6, 2023 – The Platforms of Protected Area Managers (PFGAP) of the North, including DIANA, SAVA, SOFIA and Analanjirofo regions, have laid the foundations for an interregional platform with the support of WWF, and held a workshop on the economic importance of protected areas of the North, in collaboration with Madagascar Protected Areas and Biodiversity Fund (FAPBM).
The governorates of the DIANA, SAVA and SOFIA regions, the decentralised collectivities, the regional ministerial departments and the private sector have joined forces with protected areas (PA) managers and their technical and financial partners to promote sustainable and effective natural resource management at local and regional levels.
An interregional platform for better cooperation
Nearly 45 PAs protect critical ecosystems in these regions. The management of PAs in these 4 regions deserves joint consideration. Despite the opportunities to serve the needs of local communities and sustainable development, these PAs face common challenges to their effective management. Illicitly harvested products from these important areas continue to pass through SOFIA, DIANA, SAVA and Analanjirofo regions. Also, the exploitation of strategic mining resources continues to damage the natural systems.
With this in mind, an interregional platform of PA managers has been set up to:
- stimulate and/or constitute a real force for reflection on major issues, for action and also for proposals and decision-making support to local institutions;
- to defend together the moral and material interests of PA managers and grassroots communities through advocacy and other actions;
- actively seek synergies and partnerships with stakeholders and donors;
- Be recognised interlocutors with stakeholders on development issues;
- Organise joint actions or projects between several PA managers;
- Create a dynamic for forest conservation within a territorial logic;
- organise exchanges to provide advice on practical experiences and/or explore the exchange of best practices in the management of renewable natural resources.
At the end of the meeting, the stakeholders included the PFGAP of Boeny inside the interregional platform.
“The interregional platform aims to become a force for advocacy for the existing ecosystem services and resources sheltered by PAs, the conservation of which is far more beneficial for long-term benefits than short-term intensive exploitation,” said Hortensia Bezara, site manager of Andrafiamena Andavakoera.
“Protected areas are ‘green’ infrastructures that should be integrated into local and regional development plans as a lever for development. I therefore welcome the creation of this interregional platform, which will be a source of proposals and decision-making support for local institutions,” emphasizes Teddy Gervais Seramila, Governor of the SAVA Region.
Call for cooperation to conserve the ecosystem services provided by these PAs
Northern PAs provide vital support to regional and national populations and economies by contributing to key economic sectors, notably sustainable fishing, ecotourism and water supply for food and agriculture. Despite growing pressure, local Malagasy experts continue to work with local communities to ensure the goods and services provided by PAs. Positive results are starting to be visible. The interregional platform is therefore calling on decentralised authorities and the private sector to co-invest in communities around Pas :
- To support sustainable fishing: Northern Madagascar is a vast coastal zone where mangroves make a significant contribution to marine fisheries. For example, sustainable fishing in Loky Manambato and Ambodivahibe guarantees resources for the communities. This guarantee of quantity/quality is what led to the partnership between Fanamby (PA manager), Sahanala and Refrigêpeche. This model partnership, which guarantees markets for the communities, can be replicated in other PAs.
- To protect the wetlands of the Northern region: The Marojejy-Anjanaharibe Sud-Tsaratanana (COMATSA) corridor is an important hydrological source that feeds the basins of the region and irrigates the rice fields of Andapa basin, the rice granary of SAVA and SOFIA regions. In DIANA region, for example, the Kobaby project, financed by the AFD, has brought together the economic players in the fragrant rice sector in an “aggregator”. Farmers and traders benefit from and recognise the need to preserve the hydrographic network that irrigates the surrounding rice fields. As part of the project, they have undertaken to donate part of their economic profits to the work carried out by the managers of nine protected areas: Lokobe, Montagne d’Ambre, Ankarana, Montagne des Français, Andrafiamena Andavakoera, Ambodivahibe, Oronjia, Ankivonjy and Ankarea. Similarly, the hydraulic network at Bemanevika has made it possible to install a PICO hydro-electric power station. Thanks to TPF and its financial partners, 113 households in the villages of Amberivery and Anolakely, in the rural district of Beandrarezona, benefit from electricity, and the power station is managed by the local population itself through the FIMJA association.
- To develop the agricultural sector by reducing deforestation and contributing to the reforestation of the Northern rainforests. Healthy forests make it possible to grow high quality vanilla, which in turn benefits local people by improving their standard of living while helping to protect the ecosystems essential to their survival. Vanilla is one of Madagascar’s most important cash crops and is grown mainly in this part of the island due to its specific ecoregion. Helvetas, for example, in partnership with WWF, has established a sustainable farming system and is helping communities to access markets for their production, as well as guaranteeing community associations access to sustainable financing. Similarly, Symrise, a private vanilla producer, pays an environmental premium per kilo of vanilla collected by local communities in the PA to fund community cons.
- To promote tourism in Northern PAs: In the North, several PAs are important sources of funding, such as Nosy Tanikely (Madagascar’s only financially self-sufficient PA thanks to tourism). Marojejy National Park is also one of the most popular tourist sites in the region. To facilitate access and increase the number of tourists, Sambava Governorate has committed to terracing the road to the park entrance. Relocating or prioritising public investment in simple or complex infrastructure around protected areas helps to multiply the economic benefits already generated by protected areas.
Discussions centred around most effective partnership models and resulted in the identification of joint initiatives to secure the essential ecosystem services provided by protected areas on which many local and regional livelihoods and economies depend, such as a fire emergency fund funded by FAPBM. Their implementation is monitored by the PFGAP.
Contact press :
VELOMANANA Jean Claude, Communication Officer PFGAP DIANA, velomanana_j@yahoo.fr – 032 04 322 89
