The Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), supported by its technical and financial partners which are USAID Mikajy and FAPBM, gathered the stakeholders of the Menabe Antimena protected area (APMA), to present the results of consultations on the objectives, the management strategies and the five-year Development and Management Plan (PAG) of the protected area on March 25th, 2022 in Morondava, before its validation at the local and regional levels. The workshop was also an opportunity to sign the FAPBM funding agreements in favor of the current managers of the protected area (Fanamby, Durrell and CNFEREF).
APMA is an exceptional biodiversity site with four endemic species that are found nowhere else, including the world smallest primate, Madam Berthe’s Microcebus. But these species and the other invaluable ecological values of the area such as water and climate regulation are highly threatened, as 44% of APMA forest has been lost since the protected area was created in 2015. The deforestation carried out by migrants for growing corn and peanuts requires multisector solutions in order for them to be sustainable. This has been the guideline of the APMA’s recommendations on the PAG for the next 5 years.
“Being an IUCN category 5, Protected Harmonious Landscape, the APMA aims to maintain the diversity of the landscape and associated ecosystems, and protect the terrestrial and marine landscape while ensuring the harmonious interaction of the nature and the local population. For the APMA, the overall vision therefore consists in: preserving the integrity of the site biodiversity; maintaining the vocations, natural occupations and uses of the various zones and zoning units; strengthening the contribution of the protected area to local, regional and national development through the promotion of sustainable lifestyles and economic activities in harmony with nature, as well as the preservation of the socio-cultural identity and interests of the concerned communities” according to Mr. Rinah Razafindraibe, Director of Protected Areas, Renewable Natural Resources and Ecosystems of the MEDD.
The USAID Mikajy Project works to safeguard the remaining of APMA’s natural heritage through the development of economic alternatives for the surrounding local population and the protection and management of forests and habitats by, among other things, updating of the protected area management tools. The project has thus supported the ACT Association in the process of updating the 2015-2020 PAG of the APMA, to organize the consultations with the involved local and regional stakeholders. These exchanges made it possible to consolidate biological, socio-economic and environmental information on the contexts and APMA’s current issues. Before presenting these guidelines at the local level, taking into account the vision for harmonious landscape management, the presentation of these objectives and management strategies to the different sectors is essential to make sure that all own the new PAG. This summarized the challenge, the issues of this regional workshop. The development of the PAG was built on the Communal Development Plans (SAC) of the 4 communes located within the APMA, according to a participatory process led by SIF/USAID Hay Tao. Thanks to this preliminary work, APMA is integrated into the territorial planning contributing to local development in harmony with its conservation.
The implementation of this PAG requires financial resources and the donors’commitment over 5 years. As a sustainable financing mechanism, FAPBM, through the revenues from its capital, ensures sustainable financing. Given the ecological and socio-economic values of APMA in line with the criteria for prioritizing protected areas funded by the Foundation, APMA was selected to integrate the Foundation’s funding cycle as of 2022. The signing of the financing agreements with the following stakeholders: Fanamby, Durrell and CNFEREF – closed the sharing workshop. Given the urgency of the APMA’s situation, for 2022, the Foundation will primarily finance activities to secure the protected area, including joint brigades with the regional administration of the MEDD (DREDD), the restoration of degraded landscapes and the conservation of biodiversity. This annual grant in favour of the APMA preludes the signing of a five-year agreement, which will ensure the sustainability of the funding, but whose effectiveness is dependent on the validation of the new PAG.
“The APMA is in Morondava, but it carries the voice of all the forests of Madagascar. These forests are burned for short-term necessities. Yet, their disappearance threatens our survival. Our ability today to defend and restore it proves our ability and willingness to save the remaining forests of our Great Island. Abandoning APMA is not an option, we owe it to the communities that depend on it, we owe it to the next generation. This funding from the FAPBM will not be another burnt ariary again, it will be used to stop fires and forest clearing. This is an appeal to all stakeholders to take up their responsibilities to save Menabe Antimena,” said Ms. Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, President of the FAPBM Board of Trustees.
About Menabe Antimena
Why do we need to protect APMA?
The dense dry forest makes up the majority of the APMA’s surface. The roots of the trees retain soil and water and thus help to fight against erosion and the risk of drought in the region. Its disappearance in recent years has led to water scarcity for local communities in the protected area, as well as to a vulnerability of the region to climate change. For example, the rains become rare according to the population.
A jewel of the biodiversity, this protected area is one of Madagascar’s most visited natural sites. Its ecosystem is home to unique species, such as the smallest primate in the world Madame Berthe’s Microcebe (Microcebus berthae), the giant jumper rat (Hypogeomys antimena), the flat-tailed turtle (Pyxis planicauda) and the fine-striped mongoose (Mungotictis decemlineata) as well as baobabs, 8 species of lemurs and the Fosa (Cryptoprocta ferox). Every year, thousands of visitors, both national and international, contribute to job creation and improved incomes in the region.
Menabe Antimena is also a mangrove forest. It plays an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change. As not only a carbon collector and store, mangroves also protect against marine erosion and other climatic hazards, such as floods, droughts and cyclones.
Two Ramsar sites: Bedo Lake and the Tsiribihina Delta
What to protect the APMA from?
The APMA is under multiple pressures explaining its deforestation, among others:
- Strong migration from the South
- Corruption
- Cultivation of corn and peanuts
Evolution of the disappearing surface
Original area: 213,310 ha
1973 – 2010 : 71,390 ha disappeared or 636.1 ha lost per year
2010 – 2014 : 3,295 ha lost per year
Some important actions since 2018
2018
- Establishment of a military Task Force by the Prime Minister and later supervised by the DREDD,
- Establishment of community patrols,
- Implementation of joint general patrol tours led by DREDD with OPJ, Fanamby, Durrell, MNP and WWF with the support of USAID Mikajy, FAPBM
- Update of the development and management plan of the PA based on the various communal consultations supported by USAID Mikajy.
2019: National dialogue, supported by USAID Hay Tao, on dry forests in February 2020 when 25 resolutions identified all the key actions which are needed through territorial management, agricultural production outside forests, land clearing, environmental annex to Dinan’i Menabe, law enforcement, etc.
2019:
National dialogue, supported by USAID Hay Tao, on dry forests in February 2020 when 25 resolutions identified all the key actions needed through territorial management, agricultural production outside the forest, land clearing, environmental annex to Dinan’i Menabe, law enforcement, etc.
About USAID Mikajy
The USAID Mikajy Project is one of the USAID implementation projects of the “Conservation and Communities Project” in the two landscapes, MaMabay and Menabe, for the conservation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems for a 05-year period (2018-2023). The Mikajy Program will strengthen the partnership with the government, civil society, communities and private sectors to improve livelihoods and promote conservation through development.
USAID Mikajy Activity carries out its activities through the following strategic axes:
- Improve the management of protected areas and natural resources (Nature)
- Support community-based and conservation-friendly businesses as well as livelihoods (Wealth)
- Create synergies with other development programmes (Resilience)
- Operationalize decentralized management of natural resources in specific landscapes and seascapes (Action)
- Strengthen the capacities of the communities, civil society organizations, private sector and government from specific landscapes to carry out advocacy activities and commit to better community-based management of land and natural resources.
Learn more: www.usaid.gov
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About FAPBM
Created in 2005, the FAPBM is a Malagasy private trust fund dedicated to the conservation of Madagascar’s biodiversity. Its mission is to contribute to the sustainable financing of the Protected Areas System of Madagascar (SAPM), to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, the maintenance of ecosystem services, the well-being of the population, the fight against climate change and to promote good management within the SAPM. Each investment in the Foundation’s capital generates perpetual annual income, dedicated primarily to conservation and community development activities in the protected areas. The Foundation is internationally recognized for its expertise in financing protected areas, its transparency, its good governance of funds as well as the relevance of its interventions and its long-term impacts.
Learn more: www.fapbm.org
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