SUCCESS AND PERSPECTIVES IN THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MAROMIZAHA FOREST, MADAGASCAR

The primary forest of Maromizaha or “rainforest of the Dragon trees” (150 km east of Antananarivo on the Route National 2, 6.5 km from the Analamazaotra Reserve), at an altitude between 890 – 1210 m, harbours a unique community of highland and lowland species: 13 lemur, 77 bird, 60 amphibian and 20 reptilian species have been discovered so far. The Maromizaha forest is now managed by GERP (Groupe d’Etude et de Recherches sur les Primates de Madagascar). Understanding that conservation must have the participation and support of local people in order to be effective, we have considered issues of development of the local communities, together with community involvement and awareness, general education outreach, as well as the need to enhance the capacity of local conservation managers and guides. To provide adequate resources for the effective management of the protected area, we focused on developing positive and sustainable societal attitudes towards wildlife in the local communities both establishing small infrastructures and implementing capacity-building activities. While Malagasy operators are now planning to develop small hosting opportunities for tourists visiting Maromizaha, the number of researchers and students in the forest has increased from 8 in 2009 to 208 in 2011. The presence of researchers generated an important income for the local community. We have now plans for new surveys on the biodiversity of Maromizaha forest and its surrounding and we keep on disseminating affordable policies for villagers to improve their health, conserve biodiversity and increase their income.