Month: January 2022

The funded protected area managers were invited to a training workshop on December 14, 2021. As FAPBM will have to monitor its impacts more closely, the funding tools, in particular the terms of the grant agreements, will be strengthened in order to ensure an efficient management of each protected area, of the conservation of biodiversity, and especially to safeguard the local communities. With regard to the efficiency of management, the reform of the funding tools frames all the funding in the Development and Management Plan (PAG) of the protected area. From now on the granting any fund will be conditional on updating this document which defines the strategic axes of the protected area over 5 years. With regard to the activities planned , including those related to the ecological integrity of the protected area, incentive or penalty guidelines will be put in place to ensure the effectiveness of the funded …

How did protected areas cope with the pandemic in 2021? During a webinar organized on December 17th, 2021 by FAPBM, a panel of protected area managers shared their challenges over the past 2 years. The courses of action converged on the empowerment and improvement of the communities living conditions. Ms. Claude-Anne Gauthier, Coordinator of IRD-MNHN, Mr. Christian Camara, Country Representative of Missouri Botanical Garden, Mr. Razafindralaisa, MNP Director of Operations, and Ms. Tiana Andriamanana, Executive Director of Fanamby enthusiactically  shared their experiences. The decline in the number visitors or even the absence of tourists has had significant financial impacts: MNP sites have been the most affected, as funds for a proper implementation of monitoring, follow-up and surveillance activities have been depleted. In addition, related ecotourism activities have effectively stopped (guiding, production and sales of local products, etc.), resulting in negative impacts on the household economy. In the new protected areas …

As the 2017-2021 FAPBM Five-Year Strategic Plan has come to an end, an external entity was commissioned to conduct an evaluation and support the development of a new plan for 2022-2026. The evaluation found that the overall objective of contributing to the ecological integrity of the funded protected areas was achieved. This overall objective was based on two pillars: a)  increase the contribution of FAPBM to the management costs of protected areas and b) improve the management indicators of the protected areas funded. The efforts made are significant , but so are the challenges. Continuous loss of biodiversity, poor human development, and climate change, these age-old challenges have been exacerbated by the vulnerability inherent to the pandemic. To address these issues, the new 2022-2026 Strategic Plan of FAPBM, presented virtually on December 7, is built on 3 pillars: Enhancing sustainable funding to the Madagscar ‘s Systeme of Protected Area (SAPM) …