CEPF Funding in Madagascar

As a founder and partner in the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), CI helps support hundreds of innovative projects around the world that conserve the planet’s highest priority ecosystems – the biodiversity hotspots. In Madagascar, CEPF provided $200,000 for a project that pioneered a new model for managing the country’s wetlands while also supporting the communities that depend upon these ecosystems for their livelihood.
 
The lead partner, BirdLife International, engaged local community associations and industrial food producers in protecting the Mahavavy-Kinkony Wetlands Complex. The organization also worked with government officials and representatives from local communities to establish a collaborative structure for managing the area.

ARTICLE: Madagascar Expands Network of Protected Areas.

In January 2007, protection for the area was ensured when the government of Madagascar included the wetlands in the declaration of an additional 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of new protected areas in the island nation. It is the largest wetlands area to be added to the country’s growing roster of protected areas.

The 268,236-hectare (663,000-acre) area includes lakes, rivers, marshes, shorelines and mangroves, and is home to 12 globally threatened species of birds, reptiles and fish. The threatened birds include Madagascar teals (Anas bernieri), Madagascar sacred ibises (Threskiornis bernieri) and Sakalava rails (Amaurornis olivieri).

ARTICLE: In Madagascar, Pioneering a New Model for Conservation.

Previously, Madagascar’s protected areas did not lend themselves to protecting a large wetlands region inhabited by a large human population. BirdLife International was one of the many organizations that helped the country’s government create the new approach. The new model incorporates mechanisms for monitoring and conserving biological resources, as well as enabling local communities to participate in and, ultimately, directly manage these efforts.

LEARN:  Read more stories of community partnerships and successes.