Antananarivo, July 7, 2022 – Madagascar Biodiversity and Protected Areas Fund (FAPBM) and Madagascar National Parks (MNP) presented on July 7 the results of a study on the economic contribution of Madagascar’s protected areas, carried out with the support from f KfW and the USAID Hay Tao project.
In Madagascar, the economic and social importance of our protected areas is unknown or largely underestimated. This lack of knowledge often leads to the questioning of the usefulness of protected areas. Should we maintain our protected areas? If so, for what reasons? The white paper, a synthesis of the study, provides some answers. The study quantified each of the services and products of nature provided by Madagascar’s protected areas on a local, national and global scale: water, wildlife protection, climate regulation, etc. Entitled “Our protected areas are vital for our development“, this document is aimed at the major stakeholders of the nation that hold in their hands the destiny of our population: the authorities, the civil society, the religious, the media, the intellectuals, the youth, etc. It was designed to help them to integrate the value of protected areas in political and financial decision making. It is high time we put protected areas in the hearts of the Malagasy and at the center of national and local decisions for a sustainable economic growth.
At the local level: The local economic contribution of protected areas is about 500 million USD/year. This represents an average of about 80 USD/ha/year.
The water that local people drink and which irrigates their fields (and sometimes generates electricity), the food they eat, the firewood/cooking fuel they use, and the traditional medicines that treat them, all come directly or indirectly from protected areas and/or contiguous ecosystems. Natural ecosystems therefore preserve and generate essential raw resources for local communities. Furthermore, protected areas provide health benefits to the local population and are custodians of traditions and cultures by hosting many religious and cultural sites.
Through 7 cases (Ankarafantsika, Mahavavy-Kinkony, Antrema, Ranomafana, Mantadia, Makira and Nosy Tanikely), the study evaluated the costs avoided and the income gained by the communities living near the protected areas.
| Aire protégée | Local economic contribution (USD) |
| Ankarafantsika | 133,925 |
| Ranomafana | [13,704,309 – 22,293,582] |
| CMK | [23,635,653 – 25,900,468] |
| Antrema | 282,317 |
| Makira | 4,106,250 |
| Mantadia | [228,576 – 2,199,332] |
| Nosy Tanikely | 2,417,250 |
At the national level: Protected areas contribute to key economic sectors. The national economic contribution of terrestrial and marine protected areas in Madagascar represents about 450 million USD/year, an average of 59 USD/ha/year.
Of the essential inputs that support economies, a remarkably high number comes from protected areas. The significant circular economic sectors of tourism, energy, environment, health, agriculture, livestock and fisheries benefit from the major assets at several levels of Madagascar’s protected area network:
- Water: Water sources from protected areas provide drinking water to local communities as well as to the population of major cities;
- Energy: Protected areas secure springs and watersheds near hydroelectric stations from silting and drying up;
- Tourism: Ecotourism in protected areas promotes the creation of both direct and indirect green jobs and contributes to foreign exchange earnings;
- Agriculture: Protected areas support agricultural resilience in a variety of ways such as seed or seedling distribution, crop irrigation, soil erosion control and crop pollination;
- Fisheries: Marine protected areas (MPAs), lakes and reservoirs within protected wetlands contribute more to the sustainability of fisheries yields and the development of the blue economy;
- Environment and climate: Protected areas absorb and store a considerable volume of carbon that could be sold on the international carbon market and serve as a significant source of funding and employment through ecosystem conservation activities.
At the global level: protected areas mitigate global warming. The global economic contribution of Madagascar’s protected area network, if managed sustainably, is around 7.74 billion USD per year or 1017 USD/ha/year.
In terms of climate regulation alone, the capacity of protected areas to capture and store carbon would generate an added value of around 6.25 billion USD/year or 821 USD/ha/year. Thanks to the high rate of endemicity of their biodiversity, Madagascar’s protected areas contribute to the conservation of world heritage and genetic resources, which could be used for medical or cosmetic solutions, or others. In addition, cultural benefits include the contribution of our protected areas to scientific research, to the development of world tourism and to the development of creative industries by inspiring films, animations and documentaries.
BECAUSE OUR PROTECTED AREAS ARE VALUABLE, WE MUST ACT TO WITHHOLD AND ENHANCE THEM.
The preserved biodiversity within Madagascar’s protected areas represents a precious natural capital that offers a strong potential to support the country’s sustainable economic growth. For this, we need to:
- Maintain and develop the network of protected areas in Madagascar;
- Protect Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs)
- Develop an ambitious strategy for the Madagascar Protected Areas System (SAPM);
- Strengthen advocacy with the Nation’s key players;
- Implement sustainable funding solutions for the effective operation of the protected area system:
- Mobilize global sustainable funding initiatives and major donors;
- Design innovative financial solutions;
- Act in the interest of local communities;
- Establish mechanisms to redistribute benefits equitably to community members;
- Integrate the private sector as a key success factor in value chains;
- Build community capacity to manage protected areas.
“This study addresses two myths. The first is that the services and products that nature provides for free are worthless, and therefore protecting them costs more than they bring. This is not the reality. Nature provides us with services and products of considerable value which far exceed the cost of protecting them. The second is that these resources are inexhaustible. But if protected areas are not managed effectively, the resources they contain may dry up. The example of the Zahamena – Ankiheniny Corridor Forest, where deforestation has impacted the capacity of Andekaleka to provide energy, is a glaring example. The question is, if protected areas were to disappear, would we be able to compensate for the services they provide? If so, at what cost?” said Ms. Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, Chair of the FAPBM Board of Directors.
“The results of this study show the beneficial values for Madagascar and are a call to the nation’s dynamic forces to further preserve the natural capital within protected areas which is a lever for economic development of the country through sustainable activities of several sectors. All, private sector, political leaders, civil society will have to ensure the rational and sustainable use of this capital and a fair redistribution of benefits to achieve economic and local development,” were the words of Mr. Razafindralaisa Hariniaina Léon, Director of Operations and interim Director General of Madagascar National Parks.
About FAPBM
Created in 2005, FAPBM is a private Malagasy trust fund dedicated to the conservation of Madagascar’s biodiversity. Its mission is to support the conservation of biodiversity and its ecosystem services by promoting and financing the expansion, creation, protection and improvement of the Madagascar Protected Areas System (SAPM).
www.fapbm.org
About Madagascar National Parks
Madagascar National Parks is an association under the Malagasy private law with public utility goal which, in 1991, received a mandate of the Government to manage the 43 Protected Areas of Madagascar. Its mission is to establish, to conserve and to manage in a sustainable way, a national network of Parks and Reserves, representative of the biological diversity and the natural heritage specific to Madagascar.
www.parcs-madagascar.com
1 MGA 1 987,5 billions
2 MGA 1 800 billions
3 MGA 30 766,5 billions
4 MGA 24 688 billions /year or MGA 3,243 billions /ha/year
