Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
evaluate all protected areas in the country, then numbering 37 (2% of the island), and
in their strategy for the future to provide people living near the reserves with econom-
ically viable alternatives. They have largely achieved their aims. All the protected areas
have been evaluated and recommendations for their management are being implemented.
These original protected areas are now the responsibility of Madagascar National Parks
(formerly ANGAP) which was established under the auspices of the Environmental Ac-
tion Plan (EAP) sponsored by the World Bank working together with many other donors.
Among their successes has been the establishment of a number of new national parks and
severalDebtforNatureswaps,inwhichinternationaldebtsarecancelledinreturnforsome
of Madagascar's repayments going into conservation projects.
Numerous projects in Madagascar are funded by many conservation NGOs and other
agencies including WWF, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (UK), German Primate
Centre - DPZ, Conservation International, Missouri Botanical Garden, Duke University
Primate Center, Wildlife Conservation Society, Madagascar Fauna Group and The Pereg-
rine Fund; also USAID (US Agency for International Development), Cooperation Fran-
caise, GTZ and KfW (German government), UNDP (United Nations Development Pro-
gramme) and UNESCO. One of the most active Malagasy NGOs is FANAMBY.
THEDURBANVISION
Inadramaticannouncementin2003,thenpresidentMarcRava-
lomanana promised to triple the area of Madagascar's protected reserves within five years.
Deforestation, the president said, has taken its toll on the island, reducing the country's
forest by nearly half over the last 20 years. 'We can no longer afford to sit back and watch
our forests go up in flames. This is not just Madagascar's biodiversity; it is the world's
biodiversity. We have the firm political will to stop this degradation.'
Aprogrammewaslaunchedtoidentifyareasinneedofprotection,andtocreatewildlife
corridors connecting existing parks (see box on
Click Here
)
. The new and existing protec-
ted areas are now grouped into the new System of Protected Areas of Madagascar (SAPM)
which has three major objectives: to conserve Madagascar's unique biodiversity; to con-
serve its cultural heritage; and to enable sustainable use to contribute to help alleviate
poverty.
Unfortunately,sincethecollapseoftheRavalomananagovernment,theincomingregime
has not shown the same dedication to conservation (see box on
Click Here
) so the future is
unclear.
PROTECTED AREAS
