Madagascar & Indian Ocean Islands

Located about 400 kilometers from the east coast of Africa, the island of Madagascar boasts plant and animal species that have evolved long in isolation from other land masses. In addition to Madagascar, the Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands biodiversity hotspot includes the independent nations of Seychelles, the Comoros and Mauritius.

Our support focuses on maintaining the natural wealth of Madagascar, which includes tropical rain forest in the east, dry deciduous forests in the west and a unique spiny desert in the south. The island also hosts high mountain ecosystems characterized by forest with moss and lichens.

These critical ecosystems shelter at least 12,000 species of plants, 90 percent of which are found nowhere else. Often considered a mini-continent, Madagascar is famous for its diversity of chameleons and more than 50 different kinds of lemurs—unique primates found only here. New species are also being discovered at a rapid rate: 22 new mammal species and subspecies have been described in just the past 15 years.

While sheltering extraordinary concentrations of biological diversity, Madagascar has lost as much as 80 percent of its original forest cover. Slash-and-burn agriculture, mining and logging are among the main causes. Wetlands, including lakes, rivers and marshes, are also under threat from transformation to rice fields. 

Our investment in Madagascar began in January 2001 when key threats included agricultural expansion, uncontrolled livestock grazing; unsustainable charcoal production, mining, hunting and timber exploitation; and unregulated international trade in wildlife.

Compounding these threats was a civil society characterized by insufficient technical capacity and limited biodiversity information, alongside an inadequate government presence to manage and protect natural resources, and ambiguous policies. These factors presented a complex set of challenges.

Based on an ecosystem profile developed for Madagascar, CEPF sought to fill the gaps between existing efforts and investments, define mechanisms to ensure coordination among ongoing efforts and build the capacity of civil society to manage biodiversity conservation more effectively. Six strategic directions guided our approach:

1. Integrating local groups and individuals into the management of protected areas and reserves.
2. Private sector conservation initiatives.
3. Biodiversity conservation and management training programs.
4. Public awareness and advocacy.
5. Small grants program (Biodiversity Action Fund).
6. Creation of a participatory monitoring and coordination network.

Results from our five-year investment include the groundwork for a tripling of the nation’s protected area network. CEPF-supported projects yielded scientific data to justify the need for the increase and helped determine where these new areas should be located.

Our support also significantly increased the role of local nongovernmental and community groups in biodiversity conservation. CEPF supported local communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, via community-based management contracts. Contracts between the communities and the government have, for example, been put into place in the Makira Conservation Area for 10 communities totaling 10,800 people for 38,000 hectares and in the Manambolomaty Lakes Complex for two “Associations” for management of freshwater resources.

In June 2009, we began implementing a seventh strategic direction to reinforce and sustain the gains made possible by our initial $4.25 million investment. This new strategic direction includes $1.4 million in targeted grants to selected organizations based on a consolidation plan drawing from the original ecosystem profile and an assessment of our previous investment.

Forest Cover and Change data on CI's Learning Network: Madagascar c.1990-c.2000-C.2005 (WinZip File - 37 MB)

More Maps

Madagascar Vegetation Map (PDF - 25 MB), 2007. Explore the interactive version of this map and learn more on the project Web site.