|
|
Back to Project Summary Page
Madagascar Andasibe-Mantadia Biodiversity Corridor
Biodiversity
Restoration of the north-south corridor between the eastern rainforests will increase the effective size of all protected forests, therefore increasing the habitat for endangered species (Indri, ruffed lemurs, endemic palms, frogs, many more). It will furthermore enhance the viability of populations of species through facilitation of gene flow. Some species are currently trapped in fragments such as Indri indri in Analamazaotra Special Reserve. The new zone covered will also encompass currently unprotected rare species.
Reforestation and natural regeneration activities around the parks, like the creation of sustainable forest gardens, will take place on land currently covered by Savoka, non-native, ruderal (weedy) and invasive plants, many of which are non-woody, and that are also relatively ineffective at restoring soil. These activities will provide a buffer zone around restored native forest corridors that is not hostile to much of the native biodiversity, reducing edge effect, and providing a larger area for species to roam and for pollination. These plantations will also contribute to reduce deforestation by providing resources that would otherwise be obtained from intact forest.
The project zone will also be designed as a "Site de Conservation". This relatively new designation adopted by the Government seeks biodiversity protection, but also to provide sustainable economic benefits for local communities impacted by the site. Within each Conservation Site, one or more Priority Zones are established for strict conservation (representing 25% of the total number of Conservation Sites) where no exploitation or timber extraction is allowed. The 80,000 ha forest parcel for avoided deforestation in this project will be protected under the status of Priority Zone for strict conservation.
The simple restoration of the natural forest on the entire project site would be biologically feasible but socially unacceptable. Non-native species will be included to contribute to livelihood improvement, but only where no native species could readily produce the same result. Only non-native plants that are already grown in Madagascar and have shown no evidence of causing environmental problems will be included by the project. Finally, the project will establish at least 10 seed nurseries, and get seeds from trees in surrounding forests, as is successfully practiced in the corridor restoration project in Masoala. However, as wide a provenance as possible will be sought from within the collecting area, both to obtain a diverse and robust genetic stock, and to avoid intensive collecting from limited areas.
Finally, permanent plots will be established to monitor changes in the nature of vegetation, biomass, soil, and seed-rain. Growth rates of selected planted trees, and particularly age of first fruit production and crop yield will be measured. Movements of target species such as seed vectors and species with large area requirements will be monitored. Additionally, long-term studies of the diversity of selected taxonomic groups of fauna have been proposed by the Antananarivo University.
Other Environmental Benefits and Risks
The different reforestation activities will restore the environmental services normally accruing from the natural forest. They will particularly help rebuild degraded soil, and stabilize and regulate hydrological flows. The land conversion from primary forests to tavy production in the Project area has resulted in an increase in storm flows provoking flooding and siltation of irrigated rice fields with loss of harvests. The recreation of the forest cover will also help reduce local and regional climatic oscillations.
The development of sustainable forest and fruit garden will also have a positive impact by replacing environmentally harmful activities and increasing the perception of compatibility between local people and forests.
Land preparation for all project activities will be done without mechanized tools, nor any chemical inputs. All tree planting in the restoration corridors will be carried out by hand. There will also be no need for access roads. A high diversity of species will be used, making failure of one or a few not significant, and reducing the risk of overall crop failure.
Local staffs from CI, ANGAP, Mitsinjo and SAF have been trained to implement and maintain the measuring and monitoring plan. The project will also use imagery (satellite) and aerial photographs to document changes in land use and vegetation cover in the region.
Socio-economic benefits and risks
The forest and fruit gardens component of the project will put in place plantations and agroforetry systems that benefit directly the communities. The projects will integrate a mosaic of land uses (including rice cultivation) in a way that maintains current levels of rice production whilst generating sustainable and productive cultivation systems with multiple harvestable products. The project will therefore help individual households increase the productivity, diversity and sustainability of their cultivation patterns in contrast to the current trend of declining yields and decreasing availability of agricultural land. In addition, the project will create up to 200 full time jobs for forest corridor restoration for 7 years, which will then become part time until its completion. In creating the forest restoration corridor, the project aims to soak up unemployment generated by the declining graphite mining industry in the region.
The reforestation of the corridor and restoration of the zone will rejuvenate ecotourism, which is one of the mainstays of the region containing Madagascar's most famous reserve, the Analamazaotra Special Reserve, but is being undermined by environmental degradation. The implementation of the project will also strengthen the local economy by bringing new opportunities for service enterprises (e.g. horticulturalists supplying quality plants), value added enterprises associated with fruit (e.g. fruit processing activities), maybe even local farmers radio, etc.
Local populations will also benefit from the different environmental services and in particular from the reduced erosion, the improvement of the land productivity, and the improvement of the water quality and flow regulation.
These new opportunities are likely to attract migrants. However, immigration is not seen as a source of conflicts. The region has historically always been attracting migrants and project activities facilitate long-term, sustainable investment in land use, rather than financial profit high enough to create conflicts.
Forest agents, local populations, authorities and potential operators will benefit from training in the concept and procedures for the creation and management of conservation sites. Local populations will additionally receive training in the development and implementation of the different project activities (agroforestry, forest gardens creation and monitoring…), and in alternative rice cultivation to tavy, to ensure the change to sustainable agriculture practices. As with the restoration Project in Masoala already implemented, training will be targeted at people who have the capacity to transfer their newly acquired insights to their own community.
Numerous consultations, both formal and informal, comprising discussions with individuals, communities and organizations, field research involving the local organizations and individuals (e.g. mapping vegetation cover, informal roving surveys of people's major concerns), and round table meetings comprising many stakeholder groups) have helped in the evolution of project design. The project's socio-economic impact will be monitored through human well-being indicators supplied both by ongoing measures gathered at local authority level (population structure, employment, etc.), and by measures tailored to the project.
Leakage
The project will establish fuelwood plantations to ensure the continued provision of wood and replace the current extraction from zones to be conserved. Fuelwood is the main source of energy and the region is also supplying the capital city, which results in high pressure exerted on the existing natural and replanted forests. Fuelwood plantations will reduce the risk of increased pressure on neighboring forests and improve the protection of forests.
The project will reduce the risk of displacement of populations looking for new land to grow tavy by providing more attractive activities (sustainable gardens and fruit gardens) than short-term revenue opportunities from tavy. The major change in land use will be the elimination of severely degraded savokas (non-native, ruderal (weedy) and invasive plants). The project does not intend to replace rice cultivation, as rice is both the nutritional and cultural mainstay of Malagasy people and is being used as a form of currency to barter for other products. Instead, it will integrate a mosaic of land uses (including rice cultivation) in a way that maintains current levels of rice production whilst generating sustainable and productive cultivation systems with multiple harvestable products. The project will ensure that farmers participating in the project attain land tenure, food security, have the opportunity to diversify their agricultural products, and gain income from the sale of these products.
Risk of Non Permanence
The project will have strong support from the country's park service and the forestry department. Protected areas are a major component of the National Environmental Action Plan and the protected areas of Analamazaotra and Mantadia are considered one of the highest priorities for support from the national parks services (ANGAP). Reforestation with endemic trees is also a major concern. There have been very few successful endemic reforestation activities due mostly to the heavy reliance on eucalyptus and pine. Therefore, very little natural forest is being regenerated throughout Madagascar. The Minister of Environment and Forests (MEF) is also exploring ways of using the CDM to support the forestry sector in the country. The project is the first actually implementing this mechanism.
Logging concessions in the region are no longer being issued, but illegal logging is still a risk. Protected and reforested sites also need to be protected from migrants in search for land to clear for tavy production. These risks are being mitigated on the regulatory side by a recently issued decree outlawing fire based shifting agriculture (supported by the arrests of some people in the region by the CIREF). The project itself will include fuelwood and forest plantations, and will offer positive sustainable livelihood options (which also enable continued rice production), actively engaging the local population in rebuilding the natural ecosystems. However, relatively little forests remain outside of protected areas on which to continue to perform tavy, making enforcement of protection a crucial component of the project sustainability. Therefore the project emphasizes the involvement and the responsibility of local authorities (communes), the Forestry Service, and especially the village committees or farmer associations to control access to the forests, and enforce rules. Their participation will also include measures to prevent fires, which will still represent a risk, although it will be significantly mitigated by the change in agriculture practices.
The project will also ensure permanence by promoting activities abutting natural forest that people have a strong vested interest in protecting (e.g. native species plantations) and taking advantage of a widely recognized fady (taboo) to touch forest in which bee hives have been set up by promoting apiculture (for which there is a high demand).
Damage caused by natural disturbance is difficult to avoid. However, even severe cyclones do not result in complete forest loss except on landslips, so the ecosystem continues to function and the damaged forest can usually rapidly regenerate from the seed bank. The project will keep carbon reserves to mitigate this risk.
Additionality
The main users of the lands are subsistence farmers who do not own legal land titles but use traditional property rights to grow rice (tavy) and other needed food sources. Without appropriate land tenure, there is little incentive to invest in the site's restoration or management. As a result, the land has low value and much of it is unclaimed. Subsistence farmers practice traditional tavy cultivation because of the low labor and low monetary input required, topographic constraints, and traditional belief. However, this system of agriculture is not sustainable and causes a continued loss of productivity of the land. Food and land insecurity then lock people into unsustainable, intensive, short-term exploitation.
Natural regeneration is not possible in the Project Site due to the nature of the soil, erosion and lack of funds to initiate restoration. The carbon credits generated by the project is the enabling tool to undertake the project activities.
|
|
|
