Communal Natural Resource Management in the Forest Corridor between Andringitra and Ranomafana National Parks

Geographical location:

Africa/Madagascar > West Indian Ocean > Madagascar

Summary

The Andringitra-Ranomafana forest corridor project is based on the principle of promoting natural resource management to achieve conservation benefits. It provides technical and organizational support to local management structures in Madagascar and supports agricultural system development and the promotion of technical alternatives to human-induced pressures.
Work will also feature environmental education and the reinforcement of local capacity.

Background

The forest corridor, 120km in length, is located on the rocky slopes of Eastern Madagascar separating the coastal lowlands of the East from the highlands of the Andringitra Mountain Range. It is framed by protected areas that include Ranomafana National Park to the North and Andringitra National Park in the South.

The dominant ethnic groups in this zone are the Betsileo, who are sedentary agriculturists and large land managers on the Western side; the Tanala, itinerant agriculturists on the eastern side, and the Bara Haronga, itinerant agriculturists and pastors to the south. Human-induced pressures vary in size and in intensity, but are generally more prevalent in the low parts. In the Central Highlands and the Eastern slopes uncontrolled fires and poor land management for grazing and agriculture have led to the destruction of much of the forest.

This project, financed by WWF Switzerland, seeks the maintenance of the ecological, biological, economic and social functions of the corridor via the transfer of renewable natural resource management that will lead to the rational use of renewable natural resources in the forest corridor.

In the forest corridor, poverty leads to increased dependence on natural resources. However, continued deterioration of the environment and natural resources can in itself cause or contribute to an aggravation of poverty.

The zones targeted by this project are located in the most threatened part by a rupture of the forest corridor by the advance of tavy (slash and burn), notably on the eastern facade.

It is difficult for the state, given its present capacities, to lead large-scale conservation with its own resources. National policy looks to village communities to take responsibility for their own conservation development and their immediate environment. The implementation of the natural resource management transfer process, notably forest resources that have a fundamental importance in the socioeconomic life of neighbouring communities, is one way forward.

Given the isolation of the zone under consideration, present local capacity for the setting up of community development and environmental protection policies is insufficient. Communities that only benefit very rarely from support are not able to undertake negotiations with the state, or with technical and financial partners.

Objectives

In light of the work already done in the area to catalyse the transfer of natural resource management to the local communities, the remaining challenges include:

1. Developing a programme of effective local natural resource management based on the transfer of forest resource management to village communities that contributes to the protection of the forest corridor joining Ranomafana and Andringitra National Parks.
2. Reinforcing the effects and impacts of development activities at a local level, focusing on regional development objectives.

3. Capitalizing on the results obtained thus far and developing a multiplier effect for the protection and valuing of the forest corridor between the Andringitra and Ranomafana National Parks within the framework of the ecoregional vision.

Solution

The project will emphasise the value of local knowledge and existing traditional structures, and will bring its experiences from the Manambolo Project and the Andringitra/Ivohibe Peak Integrated Conservation and Development Programme (ICDP) regarding development of local capacity.

The transfer of management to local communities can be very effective. Currently 31 sites, the majority of which are situated in the central segment of the corridor, have undergone a transfer of natural resource management.

Despite these development sites, the protection of the forest corridor is far from being assured: the sites are far apart and the areas not covered continue to face human-induced pressures (notably itinerant agriculture), particularly on the eastern flanks.

WWF will work in these regions to complete the protection plan of the forest corridor recommended by the Fianarantsoa ecoregional approach.