Madagascar

For Madagascar's growth to be compatible with its environmental challenges, we need to take a step back and reverse the loss of our biodiversity to preserve our future.

Governance

NATIONAL MOBILIZATION

Kick-off meeting

08 october 2021

Madagascar

The kick-off meeting of the BIODEV2030 Steering Committee (SC) was the opportunity to review the objectives of the project and to discuss the methodology for studying the threats to biodiversity. The three ministries who attended the meeting (environment & sustainable development; spatial planning; economy & finance) illustrate the government’s strong political support for the voluntary sectoral commitments that will be made and that will contribute to the global framework for biodiversity post-2020.

Presentation and reminder of the objectives of BIODEV2030 during the first SC of the project in Madagascar, on Friday 8 October 2021.


Diagnosis

The island of Madagascar is regarded as one of the 17 megadiverse states on the planet, and is a global biodiversity hotspot with an endemic rate of plant and animal species ranging from 80 to 100%.

Madagascar’s ecosystems contain three quarters of the estimated number of species in the world and 80% of the endemic vascular plant species. Over the territory, the natural forests, 50% of which are rainforests, represent major challenges for the supply of resources to local populations. Its 2,100km² of mangroves make the island state the second largest mangrove area in the Western Indian Ocean and support the ecosystem in numerous ways, particularly with regard to coastal stabilisation, carbon sequestration, and the presence of habitats for endemic marine species.

Population growth, overexploitation of resources, and fragmentation of environments (resulting from natural phenomena and direct human activities) are having an increasing impact on the connectivity of these ecosystems, the morphology of watercourses, and the hydrology of soils.

44% loss

of forest cover in 60 years

30%

estimated loss of Madagascar’s species by the end of the 21st century at current rates

26,000km²

of dense mid-altitude rainforest in the east is home to 11 species of lemur, 8 of which are threatened with extinction.

THREATS:

Source: STAR study conducted by IUCN

Annual and perennial non-timber crops
Livestock rearing
Hunting and gathering of land animals
Forestry and timber harvesting
Invasive species and other resistant genes
 
 

 

KEY POINTS:

Mining and quarrying, agriculture (including slash-and-burn agriculture), fisheries, and hydrocarbons have a high potential to reduce threats to biodiversity.

However, due to the informal nature of threats to freshwater ecosystems and wetlands, fishing and fisheries have low mitigation potential, even though their impact on biodiversity is significant. 

These results are the scientific basis for the stakeholder meetings to select the 3 engagement areas.

  • Agriculture
  • Fishing
  • Mining

Policy brief – Sectoral information sheets on the 7 main sectors impacting Madagascar’s biodiveristy (FR)

Madagascar

Reports – In-depth sectoral analysis and commitments’ identification for biodiversity in Madagascar (FR)

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