How did protected areas cope with the pandemic in 2021? During a webinar organized on December 17th, 2021 by FAPBM, a panel of protected area managers shared their challenges over the past 2 years. The courses of action converged on the empowerment and improvement of the communities living conditions. Ms. Claude-Anne Gauthier, Coordinator of IRD-MNHN, Mr. Christian Camara, Country Representative of Missouri Botanical Garden, Mr. Razafindralaisa, MNP Director of Operations, and Ms. Tiana Andriamanana, Executive Director of Fanamby enthusiactically shared their experiences.
The decline in the number visitors or even the absence of tourists has had significant financial impacts: MNP sites have been the most affected, as funds for a proper implementation of monitoring, follow-up and surveillance activities have been depleted. In addition, related ecotourism activities have effectively stopped (guiding, production and sales of local products, etc.), resulting in negative impacts on the household economy. In the new protected areas (NPAs), the lockdown situation prevented awareness-raising activities and the organization of community activities to be conducted. However, the absence of tourists did not have only negative impacts, because “thanks” to this failure, there was less pressure on biodiversity. Finally, it was edifying to see that the capacity building of communities carried out earlier produced results, particularly in their involvement in conservation.
In this context specific to Covid19 , the FAPBM support was considered vital, because thanks to the funds it has provided, the sites continued operating. This has helped maintain human resources in the field and reduce biodiversity losses. Lessons learned and prospects include :
- Conservation and welfare of the neighbouring communities;
- Effective decentralization to empower managers to act according to their contexts;
- The integration of a contingency plan for protected areas in their planning;
- Reflections on developing the balance between tourism and conservation;
- The integration of the private sector as full stakeholder partners in conservation efforts.
