Environmental/Rural Development Transition Program in Madagascar

January 2004 - September 2004

As part of the USAID's Biodiversity and Sustainable Forestry (BIOFOR) IQC, Pact, in collaboration with Chemonics International, and other partners including the World Wildlife Fund, is implementing priority biodiversity and forestry conservation interventions in the Andasibe/Mantadia-Zahamena Corridor (Tamatave Province) and Ranomafana-Andringtra Corridor (Fianarantsoa Province) regions in Madagascar.

Pact is providing technical services for the coordination, supervision, management and implementation of selected national level and eco-regional level activities during the transition period between the end of the current USAID/Biodiversity Conservation Strategic Objective and the launching of new mechanisms under the new USAID/ Madagascar Integrated Strategic Plan (2003-2008).

Pact's work in Madagascar dates back to 1991 and has contributed considerably to the conservation efforts of the island's rich biodiversity. More than 80% of Madagascar's flora and fauna are endemic and threatened by the high degree of environmental degradation, where natural forest areas have declined from about 25% in 1950 to less than 15% today. Forest destruction is eliminating viable habitat critical to plants and animals.

Pact's Approach

Pact has strengthened the organizational capacity of civil society organizations and government agencies in natural resource management and conservation of habitats at the local, regional, and national level. Under this task order Pact is continuing to assist these organizations in bridging the current efforts with the new USAID/ Madagascar Integrated Strategic Plan. In close collaboration with US Forest Service (USFS), Pact's expertise is being invested at various levels, including:

• participatory ecoregional planning to integrate land use areas into conservation planning and to address landscape level threats to biodiversity
• monitoring bush fire activity to assess the impact of activities aimed to reduce slash and burn practices and enhance environmental education and communication
• improving the Forestry Service's information and knowledge management systems
• setting a new transparent permitting system for forest exploitation.
• improving sustainable forest management and mining policies
• refining management and institutional arrangements for effective environmental management.

Achievements

• Forest Information system and Knowledge management improved. The General Directorate of Forestry Service of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests strengthened and provided with information base to facilitate its functions. The needs of this Unit in term of equipment, technical personnel, and financial resources were identified. A Forest Information System Policy issued which defined the mission and objectives of the "Forest Information Management Unit" in managing and analyzing forest information.
• The Capacity of the "Unité Système d'information Forestière et Communication" (USIFC) and its staff increased through applied training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), digitizing techniques. THE ISIFC also received training and assistance in Strategic planning of its operations. This series of training has enabled the USIFC to produce Forest circumscription maps for the whole country and lead data analysis and GIS works needed in prioritising conservation sites for the expansion of protected areas in Madagascar. USIFC also became well prepared to furnish technical assistance in the regional zoning processes in Antsohihy, Diana and Toliara especially in analysing spatial information and establishing a Zoning Process Guideline.
• The functions of the Projects Coordination Unit (CGP) of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests facilitated through the building of the Projects Information System. This spatially and visually-driven information systems allowed the CGP to:
  • monitor and evaluate the Ministry workplan and the progress of various projects
  • Assist in the designing the implementation of new environmental projects
  • respond to the information needs of decision makers on projects
  • exchange environmental information with other Departments/Ministries
• Incidents and Impact of Bushfires in Madagascar monitored and successful green communes identified. Pact, in collaboration with the US Geological Service (USGS), and using remote sensing imagery, maintained surveillance on bushfires in Madagascar. The results of the 2003 data analysis were used by the Malagasy Government to certify the "2003 green communes" and to evaluate the effectiveness of the bushfire combating public awareness campaigns. Training on bushfire spatial analysis was also provided to USIFC to enable them to undertake imagery analysis. (Include Example of Fire Map)
• Increased transparency of the Forest Exploitation Permits and taxations systems in Madagascar. Pact assisted in the creation of the National Technical Forest Committee (CNTF), a coordination platform used to manage coordinated decisions on forest management issues. The committee is composed of The General Directorate of Forestry Service, Observatoire Forestière (OSF), private sectors, Community Based Organizations/international NGO and financial partners. During the review of the existing forest exploitation permitting system, Pact assisted the CNTF to develop strategy in managing the transition period to the new system. This strategy aims to ensure the market woods needs, uncover prevent illegal exploitations and set up a new permitting system with a simplified mechanism.
• The Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests capable of implementing the new forest exploitation permits system. Pact and US Forest Service carried out training of trainers on the implementation of new permitting system, including the process of forest inventory and cost estimation for forest exploitation permits; the elaboration of forest management plan and the new arbitration procedure. Local and regional Waters & Forest department as well as key members of the "National Trade Union of the Forest Owners" were trained.
• The Ministry of Mining better equipped to integrate environmental consideration in their exploitation permitting systems. Pact improved the information system of the Environmental Unit of the Ministry of mining, allowing it to produce maps and information tables that supports the Ministry's and the Regional Mining-Forest Committee in their decision making process. Pact has also supported provincial workshops in Fianarantsoa and Tamatave to develop provincial short-term plans to overcome contradictions between the mining codes and forestry laws in these regions.
• Participatory forest conservation activities encouraged. PACT assisted the Ecoregional Planning Committee of Fianarantsoa (CMF) to undertake key public awareness and promotion/marketing activities aiming at forest conservation at the communes, regions, provinces and national levels. These activities including general meeting for communities and mayors of communes to outline current and planned activities in forest conservation, production of a documentary to promote the value of corridor forest and others. Pact supported the CMF to prepare the management plan for the forest corridor. This document will be the framework that will direct future interventions by stakeholders and regional actors in the region.