Category: News

The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and Madagascar National Parks (MNP) are partnering to support Protected Areas candidates to obtain the IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas status. FAPBM, through Ranto Randriantsoa, Grants Officer, joined the initiative in November 2022 by providing support to a workshop aimed at accelerating the process. The two-day seminar focused on inventorying Madagascar’s protected areas regarding the Green List criteria, identifying support needs, and defining a roadmap to support candidate sites and the Expert Assessment Group for the Green List (EAGL). IUCN Green List of protected areas The IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved areas standards is organized into four components of successful nature conservation in protected and conserved areas. The three baseline components are Good Governance, Sound Design and Planning, and Effective Management. They sustain the fourth component of Successful Conservation Outcomes. Seventeen criteria and indicators support the four elements …

Madagascar experts from conservation organizations Asity Madagascar, DELC, MNP, and MNHN created a platform to protect important areas in Boeny region on 28 October. Supported by FAPBM, the platform’s mission is to integrate protected areas with sustainable regional development. The platform will advocate growing support for protected areas and their neighboring communities at multiple levels. Boeny Region has six protected areas: Antrema, Belemboka Bombetoka, Ankarafantsika, Mahavavy Kinkony Complex, Baly Bay, and Namoroka, which provide key ecosystem services for the local people and the region. To name a few: Boeny’s protected areas values Antrema provides the raw materials used locally for basketry, which is the primary income-generating activity for local women. Baly Bay is a water reservoir important for rice cultivation and a pool of fisheries resources. The “raffia zone” raw materials provide different products, generating income for local people. In Bombetoka Belomboka, the Avicennia marina species provides shelter for silkworms …

Herinirina Andriatiana joined FAPBM is one of the new staff members who joined the FAPBM team in 2022. Graduated of the Institut National des Sciences Comptables et de l’Administration d’Entreprises, he brings to FAPBM his strong experience within  projects and non-governmental organizations. Before joining the FAPBM’s finance department, he had worked for Madagascar National Parks, one of the managers financed by FAPBM. He successively held the position of Accountant, Coach Accountant, Head of Support and Accounting Orientation and Accountant of the “Project of Climate Resilience through the Preservation of Biodiversity”. He explains his passion for nature: “Having realized the harmful effects caused by pollution, I decided to orient myself and evolve professionally in the environmental sector in order to bring my contribution in the preservation of nature which, in my opinion, must be considered as a duty for each of us. Indeed, to protect the environment is to preserve humanity and its …

Madagascar Protected Areas and Biodiversity Fund (FAPBM) will fund 15 additional protected areas. Starting in 2023, 64 of the 123 protected areas in the Madagascar Protected Areas System (SAPM) will receive annual grants from FAPBM. The total planned funding amounts to 17.9 billion Ariary (approx. USD 4,428,000). The total area of protected areas funded will cover approximately 5,286,000 ha, or about 70% of the total area of the SAPM. 15 new sites could have been added thanks to an endowment from KFW to the capital of the FAPBM in 2021, and a contribution from Global Environment Facility – Conservation International in 2020. The new sites were selected based on their wealthiness of biodiversity and the threats on it. All sites already funded by FAPBM receive additional funding. In total, FAPBM funding to protected areas will increase by approximately 43% from 2022. This exceptional effort was decided by the Board of …

Evah Ralalarisoa, internal control officer, and Lova Rakotonirina, internal control assistant, have carried outmissions in the protected areas over the last quarter. These field visits assess the effectiveness of the use of funds granted. The internal audit manual details the modalities of these missions.   The audit missions are generally structured in 3 parts: control of supporting documents for a convincing justification of expenses and interview with the managers concerning the current management structure in the field, the operational management at the site level as well as the regularity of the human resources status and files, and the capacity building of the financial team.   The visited protected areas respect a predefined rotation program except in exceptional cases. During the last quarter,the following were visited: Maromizaha managed by GERP (Eastern Madagascar, Alaotra Mangoro Region): Follow-up of the 2022 funding and inventory of the honey house materials and beekeepers’ equipment and …

FAPBM is proud to introduce to you the talents that have joined in 2022. At the Executive Management level, Mikanto Rambeloson, Financial Assistant and Lova Bryand Rakotonirina, Internal Audit Assistant have strengthened the team.   At the Board of Trustees, Vice President Ratafika Dimbiniaina has resigned as a trustee, for professional reasons. He has been replaced as Vice President by Mr. Bruno Rajaspera. And a new trustee, in the person of Mr. Alexis Befeno has joined FAPBM Board of Trustees. We invite you to discover them.   Alexis Befeno, Trustee   Currently team leader in the Industry Division of PROPARCO, a subsidiary of AFD Group dedicated to the private sector. He has extensive experience in portfolio management and business development. He is actively involved in the promotion of entrepreneurship in Madagascar, notably through the mobilization of investors.   Alexis Befeno has a Master of Business Administration from ESSEC Business School …

The world news about Madagascar has not been very positive lately. Indeed, Madagascar has been and continues to be faced with several challenges. However, there is a considerable amount of good news regarding efforts to preserve its biodiversity.   Under the co-leadership of FAPBM and MNP, communications officers from several conservation stakeholders have agreed to progressively align communication efforts to significantly strengthen support from different strategic audiences and target groups for the implementation of Madagascar’s protected area system as the number one approach to achieving the national biodiversity vision.   A creativity seminar   Group works have highlighted opportunities for improving awareness towards targeted groups; and a plan has been agreed upon on the next steps to take in order achieve this, in terms of the contribution of Madagascar’s protected areas as agents of change in reducing poverty among local communities and leading to sustainable development of local andregional economies. …

The release of FAPBM’s Impact Investing 2021 Report provides an opportunity to interview one of our experts: the Investment Committee President, Mr. James Ranaivoson, a member of the FAPBM Board of Trustees since 2019. Mr. Ranaivoson is a former advisor to the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Private Equity, New Products & Special Transactions department. He currently works as a Financial advisor in Luxembourg as founder and managing partner of WINDOF CAPITAL. He is also a member of Graines de vie Board, Luxembourg, an active NGO in reforestationprograms in Madagascar.   Q: Could you explain impact investing?   A: In 2022, FAPBM was able to finance around 30% of the total costs of 48 protected areas in Madagascar, covering more than 3.6 million hectares of Malagasy forests and coastal areas for the benefit of 3.5 million people. This funding comes primarily from FAPBM’s capital revenues.   Some donors prefer to contribute …

Dear partners,   Reflecting on the year of 2022, I realize that I can look forward with optimism for the new year to come.   Collaboration between with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Madagascar – FAPBM – MNP has made great strides, which are crucial to strengthening political and financial support for the entire protected area system. From the release of the white paper on the economic contribution of protected areas, the launch of the Madagascar Coalition for protected areas, and through the coordination workshop of protected area managers andthe Ministry, the initial results of these concerted efforts are encouraging. During 2022, funding of FAPBM has been maintained and even increased, in difficult economic and social context. This underlines the essence of the mission of FAPBM and shows the importance of our work, enabled by so many loyal donors and investors in our fund, and achieved by …

Montréal, December 10, 2022 – Today the Madagascar Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development launched the Madagascar Coalition for Protected Areas during a well-attended side-event of the COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference. Madagascar has 123 Protected Areas across the nation, in the right places that are worth protecting as they represent the country’s biological diversity, natural heritage, and provide nature-based solutions to sustainable economic development needs of the country. From the 2003 Durban vision of tripling Madagascar’s protected areas to the 2014 Sydney pledge to strengthen marine protected areas, the Madagascar government and non-government organizations have worked on creating and managing the system of parks and reserves across the nation. Supported by mostly international donors, thousands of competent, dedicated local experts, working tirelessly with local communities and the beneficiary impacts are starting to show in some of the protected areas. These success stories provide critical insights in how protection of ecosystems …

Did you know that the flow of water that supplies Andekaleka hydroelectric dam depends on the health of the Ankeniheny Zahamena protected area? That nearly 70% of foreign tourists who come to Madagascar visit at least one protected area? That the fishery products in or near protected areas exceed in quantity and quality those outsides, thanks to the good conservation of the marine protected areas and the wetlands? Find out how and why protected areas contribute to the local, national and even the global economy in the White Paper “Our protected areas are vital for our development. Based on the Study of Economic Value of Protected Areas – Review of the Evidence, this paper outlines the key findings. Recommendations that match our contributions 66 USD/ha is the average contribution of a protected area to the local economy. The credit goes to the field agents and communities. They work to preserve …