Community rights and governance

Local capacity-building activities have helped to strengthen the governance capacities of local authorities and community associations. The management models used by the COBAs have been revised with the support of the SWM Programme, in collaboration with local government. To support legal framework reform, over 450 documents on the sustainable management of natural resources have been compiled and analysed and are available on the legal platform. These support the creation of a national wildlife policy and the Government’s revision of Ordinance 60-126 on the protection regime for hunting, fishing and wildlife, via a multistakeholder working group.

Adaptive wildlife management

Six management transfer agreements with local communities have been reviewed and renewed and now incorporate customary norms and practices. Representatives of hunters and fishers have been appointed and participatory wildlife management plans have been included in the agreements. Training sessions on forestry, fisheries and hunting legislation were attended by 64 participants, including representatives of hunters, fishers and local authorities. A community monitoring strategy has been developed, laying the foundations for community patrol committees that will enable monitoring of wildlife and offences within the COBAs. .

Healthy and sustainable supply chains and consumption

Studies on the consumption of wild and domestic meat have led to the development of a behaviour-change strategy aimed at reducing reliance on hunting endemic wild species and improving food security and incomes for people living around the park. Nine hundred and seventy-nine people received training in poultry farming and 924 in fish farming. The Farmer Field School approach allowed for adaptive farming methods to be tested and for best practices to be developed. A campaign to promote behavioural change was launched. Rearing the endemic sakondry species (Zanna tenebrosa), which is valued by local communities and is increasingly rare in the wild, was encouraged by planting local host plants and by training 421 people to cultivate them. At the same time, the introduction of the first savings and micro-entrepreneurship initiatives is helping to build greater resilience for these economic activities.

Zoonotic risk prevention and management

In Makira, the One Health approach tackles zoonotic risks linked to traditional hunting practices. Thanks to a community-led pilot project in which hunters collected blood samples from tenrecs and bush pigs for analysis, several common pathogens have been identified. Targeted awareness campaigns will help educate communities about safer hunting practices and the consumption of bush meat.