Summary

Madagascar's forests are some of the world's biodiversity hotspots with a diverse range of endemic species, providing ecosystem services of global importance. However, forest degradation in Madagascar is widespread. Many rural communities depend on forests for their livelihoods, yet traditional practices including charcoal production and tavy (shifting agriculture) are becoming increasingly unsustainable. The remaining Magnafiafy littoral forest habitat in the Anosy region is designated the highest conservation status in Madagascar on account of its unique and endangered biodiversity.

In an effort to protect the country's forests the Malagasy government tripled the area of land that is included in Madagascar's system of protected areas, from 1.9 million hectares to almost 6 million hectares. 14 ‘New Protected Areas’ of forest have been designated in the Anosy region. These are vital for conservation but in order for the system to work the needs of communities which traditionally depend on these forests for their livelihoods must be addressed.

In 2006 the Malagasy government implemented the Reserve Foncière pour la Reboisement (RFR) policy, meaning that land which is reforested by communities becomes locally owned and managed, providing these communities bordering the protected areas with alternative resources and secure land rights. Azafady was selected to implement the first RFR in the Anosy region, working with communities bordering the Ambatoasignana protected area on the littoral forest fringe, and then went on to expand this project to work with communities bordering the Tsitongambarika protected area. Project activities included planting designated RFR sites with trees for community use, and providing training and inputs to reduce local dependence on forest resources in the short-to-medium term.

Project Aim

To improve natural resource management through the provision of training and inputs in order to alleviate poverty and ensure the conservation of the remaining littoral forest.

Objectives

1. Complete community-led tree planting activities and environmental education workshops in schools to promote regional conservation efforts.

2. Empower communities to reduce dependence on forest resources through the promotion of fuel-efficient stoves.

3. Enable widespread access to agro-forestry species to reduce dependence on tavy.

Principal Activities

Tree planting activities
Azafady established 2 community-managed nurseries, each with the capacity to supply more than 20,000 seedlings per year. Communities were supported to plant plots of unused land with both native endemic and endangered species to conserve biodiversity, as well as locally useful fast-growing trees to be harvested for community use. In 2008-2011 over 85,000 trees were planted across 7 community managed plantations.

Training and capacity building
Plantations are managed by locally elected community committees, who were trained by Azafady in monitoring techniques and firebreak maintenance. Pressure on protected forest resources was reduced through training in the construction and use of fuel-efficient stoves, and through the promotion of agro-forestry species including Moringa oleifera, a hardy and highly nutritious agro-forestry species. Environmental education workshops were held in schools to support the Malagasy government's new environmental curriculum.

Direct species conservation
Azafady's Environment Department has been working for several years on activities to support the conservation of two critically endangered and endemic palm species: Dypsis saintelucei and Beccariophoenix madagascariensis. As part of this project the lifecycle of the Dypsis saintelucei palm was comprehensively researched in preparation for an intensive reintroduction programme.

Case Study

Madame Georgette is the head teacher of the primary school in Ebakika, a small village in the rural commune of Mahatalaky. Each morning as she opens the school doors, she sees groups of children arriving, sweating in the morning sun, each child carrying the minimum three pieces of wood they are required to bring in order to provide enough fuel to cook their lunch. Bringing this wood with them on their long walk is their only means of guaranteeing a midday meal – often their first of the day.

Behind the children up in the mountains, tall plumes of smoke rise in the air: tavy, or slash and burn agriculture, is a widespread practice. As forests disappear the government is responding by increasing the number of protected forest areas, meaning villagers are forced to walk ever increasing distances to gather wood for everyday use. Collecting wood is traditionally a woman's job, taking hours out of the day in a time-consuming and laborious task. But since Ebakika school was selected to benefit from the World Food Programme's initiative through which every school child receives a midday meal, it is an effort that must be made.

The school's outdoor stove is uncovered, slow and inefficient, and several of the children have sustained injuries from it. However, word has spread that Azafady are working in the village promoting a new kind of stove for local families, stoves which are covered, made from the local clay, and that reportedly use far less fuel. Hearing that these stoves use almost 75% less wood, Madame Georgette decides to get in touch with Azafady to ask for their help in providing her school with a new stove.

Ebakika school is subsequently the proud recipient of three improved stoves, and Madame Georgette's students now need only bring one piece of wood with them each day. The time not spent collecting wood means many of the children's mothers are now able to concentrate on activities such as weaving or rice farming, both of which generate an income for the family through sales at the weekly market. This increased income goes a long way to improving children's health, with rice (previously a luxury) starting to take the place of the cheaper, but far less nutritious, cassava in their meals.

Now, when Madame Georgette opens up the school doors and looks towards the mountains, she still sees plumes of smoke from tavy – but can hope that she will see them less and less as people are given alternatives that do not rely so heavily on the forests, alternatives like her improved fuel-efficient stoves.