The 105,657-acre Angavo Protected Area contains one of the last remaining large blocks of spiny forest in southern Madagascar. It’s an ecosystem of global importance, with exceptionally high rates of endemism. Its inhabitants have adapted to conditions of extreme dryness; many plants have the spines that give the forest its name. There are at least three species of lemurs, including the critically endangered Verraux’s sifaka. The critically endangered radiated tortoise also lives here. The list of other endangered plants and animals is, sadly, very long.
Slash-and-burn agriculture is the primary threat here, followed by illegal logging. The illegal wildlife trade, particularly trafficking, represents the principal threat to tortoises.
The Turtle Survival Alliance manages the protected area and is charged with preserving biodiversity while taking into account the practices and knowledge of the local people. TSA works closely and respectfully with grassroots community groups, called VOIs, that manage the natural resources on which their communities depend. Together, they came up with a forest management plan that includes:
- Regular patrols to prevent illegal logging and poaching
- Regular monitoring of threatened species in the forest
- Respect for local, traditional rules (dina)
- Reforestation of at least half of approximately 1,500 acres of previously cleared forest
- Prevention of tortoise poaching
In arid, impoverished southern Madagascar, people consistently say that their most urgent needs are clean water and education. In rural areas, only about 33% of the adults have completed elementary school. Access to clean water is similarly important, especially to the women and children who forgo education and income-producing work to collect water for their families every day.
A Seacology grant will fund both a primary school and a water cistern, which will serve families in several villages. Once the school is built, the Ministry of Education should assign a teacher.
We worked with TSA Madagascar on another very successful forest and tortoise conservation project in southern Madagascar.
