Category: News

On February 23, 2022, the Executive Secretariat of the Consortium of African Funds for Environment (CAFE) held a virtual meeting of the ESMS working group, in which CAFE members participated. FAPBM presented the progress of the development of its ESMS, started in early 2021, on this occasion.   The ESMS declares the environmental and social safeguard commitments and principles of FAPBM to ensure that the negative environmental and social impacts of projects funded by FAPBM are avoided or, if unavoidable, minimized and properly mitigated. It also includes an operational guide (at the level of the Foundation and PA managers, the system for managing complaints, grievances and complaints, the risks of funding impacts, environmental and social standards, and monitoring and evaluation of the system).   The 2nd presentation of the meeting was made by Biofund from Mozambique, entitled « avoiding trouble : a scaled approach to an ESMS (Environmental and Social Risk Management …

Emnati then Batsiraï, in less than 2 weeks (10 and 22 February), two cyclones hit the south-east of Madagascar where two FAPBM-granted protected areas are located: Agnalazaha, managed by MBG and Manombo, managed by MNP. Serge Ratsirahonana, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, and Evah Ralalarisoa, Internal Control Officer of FAPBM, paid a visit on site in late February and early March for an audit and monitoring and evaluation mission. It was clear that both protected areas were heavily impacted by cyclones.   With regard to biodiversity, those tropical cyclones have severely depleted forests of their foliage. This scarcity of leaves in their usual territories would have forced arboreal and folivorous fauna species, particularly lemurs, to change territory and/or travel greater distances to feed. In addition, in the restoration areas, more than 85% of the seedlings planted last year (Q3 2021) were uprooted. Seedlings from previous years were more or less resistant …

16 of the 21 wetlands (2,147,911 ha) listed on the RAMSAR site are housed in protected areas and thus benefit from conservation activities. 7 of them are part of FAPBM grantees. Other wetlands do not benefit from this protection nor even listed as RAMSAR. In this cyclone season, the celebration of Wetlands Day on 2 February is a stark reminder of the need to provide the means to preserve these areas. Lakes, ponds, peat bogs, watersheds, swamp forests, mangroves, etc. are all wetlands. As such, they house biodiversity, provide water (for livestock, agriculture, electricity, food, etc.) and are buffer zones in case of flooding. The national theme of the 2022 celebration also denounces human activities that cause wetlands loss: “Acting for wetlands means acting for nature and humanity. Do not fill in with soil to guarantee access to water for all, do not destroy to maintain life”. FAPBM supported the …

The Directorate of Protected Areas, Renewable Natural Resources and Ecosystems (DAPRNE) has invited its close partners to its annual reforestation. On 11 February 2022, teams from FAPBM led by the Executive Director, Alain Liva Raharijaona, joined the DAPRNE and its partners (among which MNP, Group of Madagascar’s fauna and flora exporters) for this civic duty. Nearly 2,000 plants were planted in the Manankazo forestry station (north of the capital Antananarivo) by the participants. Among the species planted were acacia, tavolo, harongana, afotra, mongy hasina, fanala sopatra, mokaranana, handrarezina. Young plants evolution will be monitored and maintained by the local team of the MEDD. This physical participation – coupled with financial support – is in line with the long-standing collaboration between FAPBM and the MEDD within the framework of improving protected areas management. Most recently, the Director of DAPRNE has joined the Financing Committee of FAPBM’s Board of Trustees. Among other …

At the forefront of protected areas conservation and protection, local communities participate in patrols, restoration activities and are even co-managers of protected areas. More than that, they are taking steps to become less dependent on natural resources. Together, let’s discover these start-ups, whose efforts deserve to be supported. During the month of February, in collaboration with protected areas managers, FAPBM conducted a digital campaign to publicise communities’ achievements. To this end, internet users were encouraged to share publications about these achievements. Some important figures joined the campaign voluntarily, namely: igersmadagascar, Jay L’Exploratrice, Baonjava Monika, Marie Christina Kolo, Mbolatiana Raveloarimisa. We warmly thank the managers who offered the gifts. If you too would like to support the protected areas and their communities in any way, or buy their products, please contact the managers directly: –           Apiculture of Agnalazaha: Fidy Ratovoson fidy.ratovoson@mobot.mg –           Apiculture of Beanka: Radosoa Andrianaivoarivelo aniainodna@yahoo.fr –    …

The DIANA region, in the Northern part of Madagascar, has 19 protected areas, 9 of which are financed by FAPBM. With the exception of the protected areas of COMATSA North and South, these protected areas cover more than 800,000 ha. Although they only occupy 40% of the region, each of them provides invaluable services to the region’s populations (889,962 inhabitants in 2018). For example, the Ambodivahibe and Ankivonjy protected areas sustainably manage fisheries resources for the benefit of local fishermen, the Montagne d’Ambre protected area supplies the JIRAMA water reservoirs for the town of Diégo and the water supply of 13 rural communes around the park, and Nosy Tanikely attracts nearly 50,000 tourists per year (before the pandemic). The pressures and threats faced by these protected areas therefore endanger the lives of the region’s inhabitants. Faced with diverging interests in conservation, the DIANA protected areas platform is making the voices …

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) …

Antananarivo, 6 December 2021- The Ministry of Economy and Finance of Madagascar (MEF) and the German development bank KfW have signed two contracts for financial assistance worth a total of 45,7 million euros for the protection of Madagascar’s biodiversity. This endowment will be used to contribute to the capital of the Madagascar Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity (FAPBM). The income generated by this capital will provide protected areas and local communities with means to sustainably strengthen the fight against the growing pressures on the country’s biodiversity and natural resources. The priority area of German development cooperation in Madagascar is environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the energy and agriculture sectors. Through KfW, the German government has been committed to the sustainable financing of the Madagascar Protected Areas System (SAPM) for more than 30 years, either through direct financing of Madagascar National Parks (MNP) or …