Category: News

FAPBM was present at the first African Protected Areas Congress, APAC which took place in Kigali (Rwanda) on 18-22 July 2022. Invited to take part in several discussions, the Executive Director repeatedly highlighted the urgency of increasing funding for countries with some of the most exceptional, yet threatened, biodiversity. He put forward sustainable funding through conservation trust funds (CTFs) and the mobilization of the private sector as priority avenues. His agenda included panels on the following topics: July 19 at 16.00: Impacts of COVID-19 and other pandemics in protected and conserved areas; July 20 at 08.30: Investing in Biodiversity: Diversifying Innovative Financing Models for Protected and Conserved Areas; July 20 at 10:00 am: Supporting progress towards national biodiversity targets through improved mitigation policies and outcomes (COMBO+); July 20 at 10.30: Strengthening financial resilience of communities and their protected areas; July 21: Launch of the IUCN WCPA (World Conservation and Protected …

FAPBM participated in the celebration of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem celebrated which took place from 24 to 26 July 2022 in Nosy-Be (Northern Madagascar). Lead by the theme “Let’s act together for the integrated and sustainable management of mangroves”, the 3 days of celebration were marked by restoration actions, a carnival, exhibition stands, and conferences. Through Serge Ratsirahonana, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, FAPBM presented the mechanisms of punctual funding available to support research (Support Fund for Strengthening-FAR) or to cope with threats (Emergency Fund). “ FAPBM co-funds activities in the PAs and aims to assess the results and impacts of these funds on the state of mangrove conservation. FAPBM encourages PA managers to put in place a more effective monitoring system for mangroves including an early alerting system for threats.“ In 2021, more than 43,000 ha of mangroves were preserved in the protected areas …

The 2021 Annual report of FAPBM is out and can be downloaded here. It tracks the impacts of funding on the 3 core areas of intervention which are: (i) the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services (water, energy, wood, pollination, etc.), (ii) the development of communities and (iii) the strengthening of protected area managers. After a significant drop in the indicators in 2020 linked to the health crisis, 2021 witnessed a resumption of the increase in the indicators for the 3 components. BIODIVERSITY: declining threats after a difficult 2020   The number of fires in protected areas funded by FAPBM has decreased by 45%. Fire remain the primary cause of deforestation. This drastic decrease in the number of fire points reflected the decrease in the level of threats. This can be explained, on the one hand, by a resumption of economic activities by local communities, and on the other hand, …

Management and fundraising performance, support to an extended Protected Areas (PAs) list and performance monitoring of a PA network, and an independent national Conservation Trust Fund (CTF) working with a National Agency count as the three key strengths of FAPBM according to the results of a cross-cutting evaluation conducted by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM). The conclusions of the survey were officially presented on June 21 throughout a webinar, during which FAPBM shared its experience.   The evaluation presents a comparative analysis of eight CTFs in Africa, the Mediterranean and Central America, which together received 19 grants from AFD and the FFEM over the 2005-2019 period. The comparison criteria are based on: (i) the quality of the CTFs’ governance and management; (ii) the quality of the CTFs’ financial investments on the financial markets; and (iii) the CTFs’ impact on biodiversity conservation and …

Antananarivo, July 13, 2022 – The winners of the small cultural projects competition on  “Fine Art and Biodiversity” organized by FAPBM and La Teinturerie Association of Artists, have been announced today. They are : Mozeration – I am Stupideman – Comic book Loko – Voa S’ary – painting and fresco Danielle RAHARIVOLA – A ma petite échelle – short film   Fine art and culture have been identified as effective vectors to raise public awareness, FAPBM and La Teinturerie have joined forces with a view to support cultural initiatives that contribute to the advocacy of protection and preservation of biodiversity in Madagascar. As a reminder, the theme of the year is the one announced by the United Nations for 2022 “Building a collective future for all life forms.” Non-profit economic players such as social enterprises, Malagasy civil society organizations, and artists residing in Madagascar for at least one year were …

Antananarivo, July 7, 2022 – Madagascar Biodiversity and Protected Areas Fund (FAPBM) and Madagascar National Parks (MNP) presented on July 7 the results of a study on the economic contribution of Madagascar’s protected areas, carried out with the support from f KfW and the USAID Hay Tao project. In Madagascar, the economic and social importance of our protected areas is unknown or largely underestimated. This lack of knowledge often leads to the questioning of the usefulness of protected areas. Should we maintain our protected areas? If so, for what reasons? The white paper, a synthesis of the study, provides some answers. The study quantified each of the services and products of nature provided by Madagascar’s protected areas on a local, national and global scale: water, wildlife protection, climate regulation, etc. Entitled “Our protected areas are vital for our development“, this document is aimed at the major stakeholders of the nation …

FAPBM and Madagascar National Parks (MNP), with the support of KfW and USAID Hay Tao, commissioned a study on the economic contribution of protected areas in Madagascar. A conference on the theme “Our protected areas are vital to our development” will present the results of the study on July 7 at the Carlton Hotel in Antananarivo. In Madagascar, the economic and social importance of our national parks and nature reserves (our protected areas) is unknown or largely underestimated. This lack of knowledge often leads to questioning the usefulness of protected areas. Yet, a very high number of the key resources that support the economies and livelihoods of local communities and major economic sectors in Madagascar comes from protected areas. Should we maintain our protected areas? The results of the study on the economic contribution of Madagascar’s protected areas have showed that protected areas benefit the entire Malagasy population. A White …

“Promoting sound management within the Madagascar Protected Areas System” is the fourth axis of FAPBM’s strategic plan, an essential parameter for its funding to be effective. However, the implementation of this axis requires a close collaboration with experts. Within this framework, FAPBM supports emerging initiatives on these priority themes, which are, among others, the fight against fires, the environmental and social safeguarding of protected areas, the development of a multi-sector strategy, local advocacy for the mobilization of private funds. Among those that FAPBM has joined are the following: The World Environment Day: International Days, including that of the Environment, are an opportunity to conduct actions of Information – Education – Communication (IEC) for biodiversity preservation. On the occasion of the World Environment Day on June 05, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) organized firewall maintenance activities on the reforestation site of Ampangabe (Suburb of Antananarivo). Ranto Randriantsoa, Grants …

On June 21, 2022, FAPBM held its 20th annual meeting of the contributors to the capital with the members of its Board. A first in the history of FAPBM, the meeting was distinguished by the presence of the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Marie-Orléa Vina. She intervened to recognize the efforts of the Foundation in favour of the environmental emergence, and the important part that the contributors brought for that. She emphasized the consolidation of inter-ministry cooperation as a factor of efficiency. What are the outcomes for Year 2021? The Executive Management presented in the first part the impacts of the funding to the supported protected areas. The 2021 FAPBM annual report concluded that the protected areas funded have recorded a significant improvement in their health status compared to 2020. Deforestation has reduced due to both a decrease in the level of threats and improved effectiveness of protected …

Every year, between 50,000 and 100,000 ha of forest in Madagascar are lost along with the services they provide: air purification, protection against soil erosion, prevention of silting, etc. Fire is the primary source of deforestation in Madagascar. How do protected areas manage this threat whose causes are numerous? Through a webinar that took place on June 10, 2022, FAPBM gave the floor to 3 of the protected area (PA) managers it supports: Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG), MNP and The Peregrine Fund (TPF). Brice Funk Lee Rakotozafy, MBG site manager, shared the experience of Ibity PA (South Axis, 180 km from the capital of Madagascar). With photos to support his claim, Brice explained the system of early fires applied in the savanna and pyrophyte forests. This method is the result of careful monitoring of satellite image history and mapping of the PA: map of the evolution of tapia wood surface …

A first, an IUCN Congress specifically on protected areas in Africa. Hosted by Rwanda, it will be held in Kigali from July 17 to 23. By bringing together more than 2000 delegates from all African countries, the Congress aims to unify an African voice in conservation that will value African people and nature through effective protected areas. FAPBM will be present at this first of its kind Congress. The Congress is expected to review Africa’s overall progress in implementing global conservation commitments, discuss biodiversity challenges and showcase inspiring African examples of sustainable solutions that harmonize conservation and human development goals. The goal of the conference is to position Africa’s protected and conserved areas within the broader goals of economic development and community well-being and to increase understanding of the vital role parks protected areas in conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services that underlie human well-being and livelihoods. …

Antananarivo, May 24, 2022 – On the occasion of World Biodiversity Day, May 22, 2022, FAPBM in collaboration with the artists’ association, La Teinturerie, is launching a competition of small cultural projects “Art and Biodiversity” to support cultural initiatives that contribute to the advocacy of protection and preservation of biodiversity in Madagascar. The theme chosen is the one which has been announced by the United Nations for 2022 “Building a shared future for all life” Madagascar enjoys a rich biodiversity unique worldwide. The proportion of endemic species of the Island, both in fauna and flora, reaches 87%. But above all, biodiversity is essential for human well-being. The water that we drink or that feeds in the hydropower stations of the country, the food that we eat, the medicines that treat us, to mention only a few examples, come from nature. Unfortunately, this capital is diminishing day by day in such …

The number of forest fires in Madagascar reaches a peak during the dry season. How do protected area managers cope with this threat? In 2021, the deforestation rate in FAPBM-funded protected areas was 0.68% compared to 1.4% for other protected areas. But FAPBM aims to lower this rate even further. Thus, with a view to sharing experiences and best practices to deal with this scourge, FAPBM is organizing a webinar on the theme “Fire management in protected areas” on Friday, June 10, starting at 10:00 a.m. This webinar is the first of the “FAPBM Webinars”. The FAPBM Webinars will aim to share experiences between PA managers funded by FAPBM, but also with all the managers of  protected areas in Madagascar as well as all the stakeholders. The speakers for this first webinar will be Mr. Harinaina Léon Razafindralaisa,  Madagascar National Parks’ Director of Operations, Mr. Brice Funk Lee Rakotozafy, Head …

A FAPBM team  has attended  a workshop to assess the effectiveness of the management of the 5 Boeny protected areas beneficiaries of the GEF6 Conservation International project “Conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the North-Western landscape of Madagascar, Boeny Region”, namely Ankarafantsika National Park, the New Protected Areas of Antrema, Bay of Baly, Mahavavy-Kinkony Complex and Bombetoka. Bringing together all the stakeholders of the project, the workshop took place from May 17 to 18 in Majunga (Northern Madagascar). The reason for FAPBM’s presence at this evaluation workshop is that the GEF6-CI project contributed USD 4.5 million to the Foundation’s capital in 2020 to ensure continuity of funding. Currently, only Bombetoka protected area is not yet a beneficiary of FAPBM annual grants. This will be the case as of 2023. Thus, starting in 2023, funding to the 5 protected areas in the Boeny Region will increase significantly thanks to the …

Courtesy visit to the Minister of Environment Mrs. Marie-Orléa Vina, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, received a delegation of FAPBM on April 28. This meeting reinforces the collaboration between the 2  institutions in favor of the sustainable funding of the Madagascar’s Protected Areas System (SAPM). Mrs. Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana, the FAPBM President of the Board, expressed her wish that FAPBM be integrated as much as possible in the major projects funded by international initiatives such as GEF or GCF. FAPBM can be the financial mechanism for funding projects dedicated to protected areas, as is the case for GEF6 WWF project for the marine protected areas. FAPBM can also be the beneficiary of a capital endowment in order to ensure the financial relay at the end of the projects. The capital endowments from the French Development Agency (AFD) and KfW were mentioned as examples. Courtesy visit to the Chargé d’Affaires of …

On the occasion of the celebration of the International Biodiversity Day on May 22, 2022, FAPBM supported the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development-MEDD’s awareness-raising actions through the production of a special program on E-SEE Magazine on the national TV channel TVM. At the same time, FAPBM launched a digital campaign “One day, one protected area” to promote the protected areas it supports. The theme chosen for 2022, “Building a common future for all forms of life”, is in line with the momentum generated by the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, which reminds us of how biodiversity is the answer to several sustainable development challenges. The slogan conveys the message that nature-based solutions for climate, health, food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods are the foundation on which we can better build back. The full program (in Malagasy) is available here: https://www.facebook.com/televizionamalagasy/videos/1003207773897744. …

The Index of Biological Integrity or IBI of all FAPBM-funded PAs increased from 2.52 to 2.59 in 2021 (on a scale of 1 to 5). This improvement is the result of a decrease in the level of threats in the protected areas and conservation actions by the managers. In the MNP network, a patrol reform was initiated in 2020: Instead of counting the number of squares visited during patrol missions, the monitoring effort focused on pressure areas, with the number monitored as the achievement indicator. Previously, in 2019, the patrol achievement indicator was the number of squares visited (a square being 250mx250m) in the protected area. Since 2020, this indicator has become the number of targets monitored. The system is simple: the targets are the areas under pressure and threats. As soon as a fire or logging activity or other types of pressures in the protected area is announced by …