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Community
Forest Management |
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Madagascar
is seen by many conservationists as the single most
important biodiversity hotspot in the world. It has
high levels of endemism in both plant and animal families
and is known worldwide as one of the most important
priorities facing conservationists today. The latest
estimates suggest that up to 96% of the original forest
cover has been lost along with numerous species, many
of which had never been described. |
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With extremely limited financial resources and similarly
limited infrastructure for conservation, the Malagasy
government has struggled to manage and maintain its
globally important natural resources whilst the pressure
from a growing population constantly increases the strain.
In the face of this pressing situation, the Malagasy
government has initiated plans to devolve the power
for resource management and development planning from
governmental bodies to local communities, with an emphasis
on participation and sustainable resource use. |
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In Madagascar, the policy of transferring the management
of renewable natural resources, under contract, to rural
communities has, since October 1996, been governed by
Law 96-025 providing for local management of renewable
resources. The management of forests, wild fauna and
flora (both aquatic and terrestrial), water and rangeland
coming within the state domain or territorial communities
can thus be handed over to local entities. The law creates
a regulatory framework for the so-called GELOSE (security
in local resource management) and GCF (community forest
management) contracts. Such contracts are entered into
by the state along with the commune or the base rural
community, (COBA), in partnership with an intermediary
funding organisation. A contract provides for: the transfer,
under contract, of the management of a renewable natural
resource within a demarcated community area to a given
rural community; the rendering of relatively secure
land tenure (by public record), where all parties will
have been able to make an input, regarding individual
or community land occupancy throughout the territory
concerned. |
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The community of Sainte Luce in South-East Madagascar
has been granted an agreement to self-manage their marine
environment under the GELOSE law and has now requested
a second contract, a GCF, to manage their forest resources.
GCF is now the government-preferred method of transferring
forest management. Community representatives have requested
Azafady to act as an intermediary between them and the
government, to gather the necessary data, write a management
plan and apply for the GCF status. The local office
of the Malagasy Ministry of Water and Forests (DEF)
has approved the collaboration between Azafady and the
Sainte Luce community (Rasolonirina Jean-Victor, CIREF,
pers. comm.), and a contract of collaboration has been
drawn up. |
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The Ste Luce region includes an area of approximately
1,950 hectares of fragmented littoral forest described
as being “pristine ” in condition, a habitat
type of the highest conservation priority in Madagascar,
as well as wetland and mangrove habitats of global significance.
At least two endemic Critically Endangered plant species
(IUCN 2000) are found in the Ste Luce forest, one of
which Dypsis saintelucei has less than fifty known individuals. |
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The project proposed provides a framework by which,
through stakeholder participation and a resource management
program, in conjunction with long-term floral and faunal
research, a management plan can be devised for the local
community to operate and to aid the community to sustainably
manage resources within the Sainte Luce and Ebakika
boundaries. |
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This project aims to work in the notional area of Ste
Luce and the nearby littoral forest fragments (Manafiafy
forest), and is not restricted by any political or legal
boundary. It will include work in nearby villages outside
of the Sainte Luce political boundary, because these
villages also use the Sainte Luce forest resources on
a daily basis and must therefore participate in the
planning process. |
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The first and most urgent priority of future activity
is to fund the process of management transfer as a partnership
between the local community, the Ministry of Water and
Forests, and Azafady. Future work will include further
ongoing research activities, designed to, under participatory
methods, establish plans for the enhancement of natural
resources focusing on improving degraded land, protecting
wetlands and mangrove habitat, and finding partners
to fund the infrastructural needs of the development
process. |
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Conservation
Research |
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The majority
of our conservation research activities have taken place
within the forests of Sainte Luce. These have included
in recent years: |
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- Lemur Survey
by Matthew Banks of Duke Primate Center
- Bird
Study by Emahalala Rayonné Ellis
- Herpetological
Study by Giovanni Battista
- Project
Fanomena which has surveyed the dwindling turtle
population of the region's coastline, led by Nancy
Gladstone
- New floral
species or new locations for critical species
have been found, and specimens have been collected
and sent abroad or to our partners in Antananarivo
for identification.
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