WWF-Madagascar: Our solutions

Ring-tailed lemurs live in groups of 5-30 members. They have distinct hierarchies that are enforced by frequent, aggressive confrontations between members. Females dominate the group. Males have a social structure that undergoes great upheaval during mating season. Analamazaotra Special Reserve, Madagascar.

Keeping corals, lemurs and spiny forests in the picture

Madagascar’s lemurs put the island on the world map of natural wonders. But these remarkable primates and a range of species and ecosystems are losing ground in the face of deforestation and overexploitation. For WWF, it’s time to revert the trend of destruction.

For a comprehensive overview of our work in the Madagascar, check:

WWF is now running a Youth Volunteer Programme for people aged between 19 and 26 in Madagascar... Interested?

Marine conservation

Give fish a place to thrive where no fishing allowed, and soon enough you will reap increased stocks in the surrounding area. This in short is the principle of Marine Protected Areas, marine havens that we are setting up in the Toliara reef system - the third largest coral reef area in the world.

The new marine park will help stimulate the introduction of improved fishing and collecting practices, and the protected sites will help stocks to recover over the entire area.

As part of this effort, WWF helps local people better manage marine resources in order to put into practice management plans for the sustainable use of fisheries.

We’re also making sure that Malagasy shrimps, both farm-raised and wild, receive a premium on the European market for their high quality. The project aims at supporting the Malagasy government and shrimp producers in creating national standards for the shrimp aquaculture industry, and using these standards as the basis for an ecolabel.

Freshwater conservation

Years of deforestation in Madagascar have not only caused erosion but also stressed freshwater resources.

On the east-southeast coast of Madagascar, where a large forest block has been reduced to a narrow band of forests that varies from 15 to 20 km in width, the poor management of water is a major problem for local people.

WWF helps communities to access clean and safe drinking water and to manage water resources for agriculture, in particular rice, without relying on slash-and-burn practices.

Species conservation

The simpona or silfy sifaka is a natural priority for WWF, a rare and critically endangered species of lemur that is endemic to a very small mountainous area in northeast Madagascar.

Our work involves protecting the simpona through a variety of conservation awareness and environmental education programmes for local communities.

All over Madagascar, many of our marine and forest conservation efforts integrate the protection of endangered wildlife.

Forest conservation

Madagascar’s forests are a timid version of a once large expanse of greenery. One of the many areas where WWF seeks to protect the remaining patches of forest is the humid Anjozorobe corridor, which contains the largest surviving area of Madagascar’s uniquely diverse high plateau forest. There, WWF staff are carrying out a range of actions including biodiversity assessments, developing a strategic plan for land tenure security and finding tax strategies for conservation.

In other places, such as the Fandriana-Marolambo landscape, our efforts are directed at restoring the ecological services and socio-economic values of the forest. The project puts into practice restoration strategies in partnership with local authorities and communities.

Ecotourism

Ecotourism in Madagascar offers one solution to the conflict between conservation and exploitation. With this in mind, WWF provides technical assistance to local communities, by proposing ecotourism as an alternative to slash-and-burn and the illegal trade in plants and animals.

Ecotourism, of course, should work in both ways: as a source of livelihoods for local communities and as a guarantee of protection for ecosystems. In the Marojejy-Tsaratanana corridor in the Northern part of Madagascar, our work contributes to save lemurs by ensuring that humans’ socio-economic needs are met by bringing tourists to witness the local wonders of nature.

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