We want to share with you some updates as we approach six months into our project in Maevatanana/Ambato-Boeni , a project made possible thanks to the support of Fondation Segré through IUCN Save Our Species.
In common with many areas, the range and abundance of endemic freshwater fish species have declined dramatically in the waterbodies where our project is taking place. We are now working with the local communities in various ways to reduce this decline.
Awareness-raising in Komadio © Mamitiana Henriette Raharimalala, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
Raising awareness among local people is an important element of the project and sessions are held to explain the rules and regulations and, importantly, why they are just as essential for the human population as they are for the future of wildlife and habitats. In January our team held three awareness-raising sessions to present the project to all community members and talked about endemic fish species, their survival and what people can do to help their sustainable presence. 260 people attended the sessions across three project sites, and we were pleased to see nearly a third of the attendees overall were women.
Awareness-raising in Marofototra © Mamitiana Henriette Raharimalala, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
In addition to the community sessions, our team are also very experienced at identifying enjoyable ways to impart information. They frequently participate in relevant celebration days and in February this year had planned to attend one such celebration on World Wetland Day. Unfortunately, a cyclone hit the area with significant consequences.
Flooding caused by the February cyclone © Mamitiana Henriette Raharimalala, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
The rivers were unable to contain the volume of rainwater which caused widespread flooding.
Floodwater overwhelmed the rivers © Mamitiana Henriette Raharimalala, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
Travel in the region is always challenging but the conditions created by the cyclone made it impossible to navigate a route to gain access to the area.
Access routes were impassable © Mamitiana Henriette Raharimalala, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
It was disappointing to be unable to participate in World Wetland Day celebrations as these events bring communities together and provide an ideal opportunity to reinforce our messaging on the sustainable use of natural resources. However, further opportunities will arise as the year progresses.
We would like to end this update by introducing you to Mamitiana Raharimalala.
Mamitiana is part of The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar team and, under the direction of our Country Director and Project Lead Maholy Ravaloharimanitra, Mamitiana is managing this 12-month project. To improve our team’s ability to offer better advice and training for the local community associations, Mamitiana, in her role of Regional Responsible for the MAB project, attended practical training on agroecology, composting, bio pesticides, crop rotation and companion planting in March this year.
We have a further update on the project planned in the next few weeks and hope you enjoyed this brief insight into the valuable work carried out by our Aspinall Madagascar team.
We are grateful to Fondation Segré, and IUCN, for their support with this project. IUCN Save Our Species aims to improve the long-term survival prospects of threatened species. It also focuses on supporting the species' habitats and working with the communities who share this habitat. It achieves success by funding and coordinating conservation projects into multiple initiatives across the globe.