Community-managed conservation efforts at Tsingy Mahaloka/KOFAMA, northern Madagascar: Right place at the wrong time?

Abstract

This paper provides a retrospective account of efforts, from 2007 to 201 3, to establish a community-managed protected area just south of Ankarana National Park that would encompass the limestone massif known locally as Tsingy Mahaloka and adjacent remnant forest patches. Community members of the rural commune of Antsiravibe came together in 2007 and, with support from the Peace Corps, formed KOFAMA (Koperativa Fikambanana Ankarabe Mitsinjo Arivo) to oversee management of the Tsingy Mahaloka site. When KOFAMA was initially established, Tsingy Mahaloka was envisioned as an ecotourist destination. Ecotourism is a pillar of the new IUCN "Lemurs of Madagascar" conservation action plan (201 3-201 6), and can allow rural communities to (i) secure revenue for habitat protection; (ii) create economic incentives and benefits for residents; and, (iii) facilitate locally-supported conservation efforts. Ecotourism to Tsingy Mahaloka was seen as a means for future sustainable development in the area. KOFAMA, as the local organization to be responsible for management of the protected area, was intended to operate by a "bottom-up" approach, where local stakeholders take active participation and leadership in decision-making affecting the protected area. But, obviously, an ecotourist site needs tourists; this has proven to be a problem for KOFAMA and the Tsingy Mahaloka site. The Tsingy Mahaloka site, on the face of it, would appear to offer much that would attract and educate ecotourists, including: striking topography (the massif's sheer limestone cliffs rising 80-1 00 metres above a flat coastal plain), a diverse endemic avifauna, a resident crowned lemur population, and extensive caves containing human burials made over generations. However, the site's relatively remote location and Madagascar's recent political crisis have worked against Tsingy Mahaloka becoming established as a site that ecotourists regularly visit. Regardless, a core group of local residents remain committed to the project's original goals. At this point in KOFAMA's history, however, an initial assessment of the organization draws attention to the limits of a "build it and they will come" approach to ecotourism, sustainable development, and locally-managed conservation efforts. The struggles encountered by KOFAMA in its efforts to oversee the Tsingy Mahaloka site highlight the importance of detailed ethnographic and socioeconomic work prior to embarking on such locally-managed conservation efforts.

Profound and pervasive degradation of Madagascar’s freshwater wetlands and links with biodiversity

“…Communities expect conservation to deliver economic benefits [ 39 ] but it rarely can. Ecotourism has been relied on to fund projects, but limited tourist numbers, poor infrastructure and political problems mean that few sites make a profit [ 42 , 43 ]. Long-term external funding has been known to work [ 39 , 44 ], but is difficult to secure and subsequently unviable for most sites.…”

Realized distribution patterns of crowned lemurs (Eulemur coronatus) within a human‐dominated forest fragment in northern Madagascar

“…As a hotspot of diversity, Madagascar is one of the highest priority areas for primate conservation (Estrada et al, 2018; Myers, Mittermeier, Mittermeier, Da Fonseca, & Kent, 2000). To manage increasing anthropogenic pressures on forest communities and promote sustainable livelihoods (Colquhoun, 2015; Gould & Andrianomena, 2015; Phillips, 2002; Schwitzer et al, 2013), the government of Madagascar has established a new category of the protected area: Forest Habitat New Protected Area (NPA). Unlike the more strictly protected areas (e.g., IUCN categories Ia, Strict Nature Reserve; II, National Park; IV, Habitat/Species Management Area; Dudley, 2008), NPAs focus on the interaction between people and the environment to promote land‐use patterns that protect biodiversity and habitat structure (Dudley, 2008; Gardner et al, 2018; Kull, 2014).…”