For wildlife and habitat conservation to be successful it must be sustainable long-term. An important element in working towards this aim is recognising the needs of local people. Communities have always been at the heart of our projects in Madagascar, and our TAF Madagascar team continuously look to evolve activities to achieve maximum results with the funds available to them.

Local NGO Fanambinantsoa provide their training expertise to our project © The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar 

In our current project in CAZ West, made possible with the support of The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, our team have enlisted the help of local NGO Fanambinantsoa for their expertise in training community members. Established in 2021 this local NGO has valuable experience in providing environmental education, including developing the skills of teachers. This includes training in practical measures such as sustainable market gardening.

Teacher training in sustainable food production © The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar

Training teachers on market gardening at school, and in the provision of environmental education, will contribute towards sustainable change. It empowers each community to continue better agricultural practices and understand environmental issues beyond the project timeframe, and engages the younger generation in sustainable practices for the future. The activities taking place during this project should enable around 1,200 schoolchildren, boys and girls, to participate in market gardening activities and will provide much-needed produce for school meals.

Monitoring and protecting the remaining rainforest in the project area is also being undertaken by local community members who are trained to carry out patrols. Camera traps are just one of the tools being used, and the rangers deploy and retrieve data from the cameras regularly. The strategic placement of the cameras provides us with valuable observations of the wildlife present in the protected area and occasionally captures illegal activities being carried out.

Setting camera traps  © The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar

The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan and the World Bank. A fundamental goal is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation.