MBG Conservation

The 770-hectare Pointe à Larrée New Protected Area, situated on the Antsiraka Peninsula in central-eastern Madagascar, includes one of the last large remaining fragments of Malagasy littoral forest (humid forest on old sand dunes close to the sea) as well as areas of very rare swamp forest, marshes and lakes (see here http://mobot.mg/conservation/pointe-a-larree/). Inventories to date, as yet incomplete, show that the site contains 468 native plant species (almost all of which are Malagasy endemics), 11 mammal species (including 6 species of lemur), 63 bird species, 26 reptile species, and 15 species of amphibians. Of these species, 46 are classified as threatened. The forest also helps to stabilise the fragile sandy peninsula on which it located – a peninsula that is regularly impacted by cyclones and where hundreds of families make their home. Since 2009 Missouri Botanical Garden’s (MBG) Madagascar Research and Conservation Program has been supporting a community-based conservation project at this site. The site was designated by the Malagasy Government as a New Protected Area in May 2015 and it is listed in the World Database on Protected Areas with the identification number 555697898.

Many of those living adjacent on the Pointe à Larrée peninsula are fisherfolk.  Previously the conservation of this important forest was largely compatible with fishing.  However, recently, due to the pandemic, markets for the sale of fresh fish have been impacted by travel restrictions – introduced in an attempt to control the pandemic, and consequently more people are seeking wood from the forest to dry their fish and thereby prolong the longevity of the product.  Also some people have begun exploiting timber for sale as a means of supplementing their income.  Thus, through hardship, the forest is being degraded.

In this project, supported by the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States through the BIOPAMA Programme, we aim to engage the fisherfolk of Pointe à Larrée in a mutually beneficial relationship in which they can mitigate the impact of the pandemic on their livelihoods while conserving the protected area.

We will achieve this objective by first animating a series of workshops that will establish the interest in the fisherfolk in creating an association, define the association’s mission, debate its organisational structure and terms of reference for its board, elect the board, then, train the committee members in good governance and task them to develop a pragmatic manual of procedures for validation by the members. This process will be guided by the association MAMPITA, MBG’s partner in this project, who will also legalise the resultant association. MBG staff will be responsible for coaching the committee for the remainder of the action and beyond. Once the association is functional, interested members will be trained in best practice for policing the forest, and then each day during the project, 12 members (3 teams) will be directed to patrol the forest. Any infractions detected will be presented to an existing community structure responsible for applying community rules (the KODINA) for treatment. MBG will also work with association’ members to remove alien invasive trees (such as Melaleuca quinquinervia) from the protected area. The wood from these plants will be transported to the villages, allowed to dry in hangars and eventually burnt to preserve the fish. Those contributing to these tasks will be compensated (with a small percentage of their payments paid to the Association to enable its on-going functioning). To reduce the amount of wood needed for drying fish we will support the Association to install one solar fish drier and one improved wood drier in each of the three main fishing villages. The designs will be those that have already been trialed elsewhere in Madagascar. A group of women in each village will be trained to use the driers by an experienced practitioner from elsewhere. The Association will work with the women to develop modalities to compensate the women for their work.

– Inception call for the project
– Recruitment of the Action Manager, contract signed 20/05/2021
– First meeting with members of fisher folk Associations at Ambodimanga
– creation of Bioipama webpage

– General meetings with people from four villages: Ambodimanga 29 persons (19 men and 10 women), Andasivoalavo 25 persons (16 men and 9 women), Ankitsinambo 24 persons (17 men and 7 women) and Antsiraka 72 persons (56 men and 16 women). These meetings allowed us to explain 1) the objectives of the project; 2) to collect their expectations, willingness, and their worries.
– Identification of the location where representatives of fisherfolk Association will be trained on efficient wood dish drying. The place is located at Mandrisy, 40 km north from Pointe à Larrée.

– Official creation of three fisher folk Associations: TARATRA at Ambodimanga, Fokontany Antanambao, rural commune of Manompana, formed by 90 members including 46 men and 44 women. At Ankitsinambo, MIARAMIENTANA (Ankintsinambo, Fokontany Antsiraka, rural commune of Antanifotsy), with 35 members including 8 women and 27 men. The third Association called TAFITA, with head office in the village of Antsiraka, Fokontany Antsiraka, rural commune of Antanifotsy, with 111 members including 24 women and 87 men;
– Two informal trainings held for the leaders of the Associations: Ambodimanga 12 leaders trained and at Ankitsinambo 13 members. These Leaders were trained for techniques on effective patrol and using GPS.
– Official training of nine representative from fisher folk Associations at Mandrisy on use of efficient wood for fish drying. This includes mainly practical training of the fish drying process and governance of the Association.

– Submission of the dossiers at local authorities (communes and District) for requesting registration numbers of the Associations. Provisional number were obtained from the communes.
– Two training sessions were held at Ankitsinambo with 20 members (1 woman and 19 men), 12 members at Antsiraka (4 women and 8 men) on effective technique of patrol and using GPS.
– Five daily patrols were conducted by the Association Taratra at Ambodimanga with participation of 18 members, including 10 women and 8 men. During the five sessions, only one wood cut was seen and the perpetrator was not identified. In total, Euro34 have been used as compensation for this activity.