Evaluating Madagascar’s EAP: Problems for the future Essay Example

towards preserving Madagascar's invaluable ecosystems. The Environmental Action Plan (EAP), funded with over $150 million in international contributions, is responsible for this initiative. Its main goal is to safeguard primary forests and promote sustainable land use through enforcement measures, educational programs, and poverty reduction initiatives. The Ministry of Environment collaborates with organizations like the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) on this project.

4 million hectares will be designated as national parks, and the remaining areas will receive formal conservation status. Slash-and-burn agriculture, tree chopping for firewood, and hunting will be prohibited in these areas. However, there are rural communities living within these areas and the government recognizes the need to educate them about conservation. In April 2004, the government launched an educational campaign with two main objectives: 1) To teach rural communities that conserving forests benefits the poor in the long run by preserving water and nutrients in the land. Deforested soil erodes quickly and becomes useless, leading to further land clearance; 2) To promote more environmentally friendly methods of rice cultivation like the new intensive rice system that can increase yields per hectare fourfold. Additionally, conservation groups plan to distribute energy efficient stoves to reduce reliance on firewood. The main focus of this campaign is poverty reduction.

Ravalomanana's goal is to end rural poverty through economic reforms and attracting foreign investment. He wants Madagascar to lead in ecotourism, which will help reduce poverty by 50% by 2015. The EAP, similar to other initiatives like CBC and ICDP, aims to address conservation and development together. However, the effectiveness of this approach as a conservation tool has been limited; its success depends on providing immediate economic benefits to the

local population. Without mechanisms for delivering short-term advantages to the rural poor, I believe that the EAP will fail in practice. Nonetheless, the nation's long-term economic growth can greatly relieve pressures on biodiversity.

For instance, research conducted in Zimbabwe Communal Areas reveals that the impoverished population relies more on natural resources and tends to engage in more damaging land-use practices compared to the wealthier population. Introducing innovative approaches such as nature-for-debt trades could greatly contribute to long-term poverty alleviation, which could ultimately have a profound impact on conservation efforts. It should be noted that Ravalomanana has already achieved a 5.3% economic growth in 2004, but this growth has been primarily observed in urban areas rather than in the rural areas where biodiversity faces the greatest threat.

The underdeveloped infrastructure in rural Malagasy restricts the access of its residents to markets. Moreover, it is evident from history that in order to effectively manage resources, coordinated environmental and development plans must provide immediate economic benefits to community members. Ravalomanana has promoted the economic potential of Madagascar's growing ecotourism sector as a way to motivate rural Malagasy to comply with land restrictions and conservation policies. However, based on the experience with Ranomafana National Park, which was established in 1992 to integrate conservation and development, the actual revenue-generating capacity of ecotourism is limited. Even if he believes it will be different this time for Madagascar, examples from other parts of the world show that ecotourism has not been sufficient to support conservation efforts. A prime example is Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal, which is heavily visited in Asia. The implementation of ecotourism at RCNP aims to provide economic incentives to

impoverished villagers and their communities, thereby promoting local preservation of biological resources.

A study found that the impact of ecotourism on villagers was minimal. Only 4% of locals (1,100 out of 87,000) were directly employed by the ecotourism industry and only 6% received income either directly or indirectly from ecotourism. The restoration of rhino and tiger populations in RCNP is largely attributed to the strict protection provided by the Nepalese army and park staff, as well as the law-abiding nature of Nepalese citizens and the absence of firearms among rural residents. This success cannot be credited to any incentive program.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe's campfire program offers tangible benefits for conservation through revenue sharing. Local people can financially contribute to wildlife preservation by receiving a significant portion of safari fee revenues. However, areas without large game lack sufficient revenue generation potential needed for conservation projects relying on revenue sharing.

The idea that wildlife and protected areas should sustain themselves economically is impractical. Conservation initiatives must acknowledge that most protected areas do not generate enough revenue to offset community costs associated with their maintenance.

In Madagascar reserves, it is unlikely that there will ever be enough financial benefit to outweigh local preferences regarding land use which strongly correlate with perceived long-term economic needs.

Any environmental action plan will only be effective if it provides immediate benefits to the forest-dwelling population. The goal of the EAP is to discourage destructive land-use practices by demonstrating the lasting value of conservation to rural Malagasy people. However, for those who live in the forests and are primarily concerned with their day-to-day survival, conservation education holds little significance. They cannot afford to wait for the

supposed long-term advantages of conservation. Therefore, education alone cannot alter the land-use methods employed by rural Malagasy individuals. Slash-and-burn agriculture is a longstanding tradition that has been passed down through generations. Additionally, because of the absence of formal land ownership rights, farmers have limited motivation to invest in more expensive agricultural techniques.

The majority of Malagasy lack an official land title, resulting in the most cost-effective and efficient method of agriculture being slash-and-burn cultivation. This practice involves clearing land, planting crops, and then moving onto more fertile areas until all forests have been eradicated—an unfortunate tragedy for all. Due to this, any conservation plan aimed at reducing slash-and-burn techniques must be accompanied by a comprehensive land reform policy for it to succeed. Starving Malagasy, who barely survive through subsistence farming, have no motivation to comply with land-use restrictions. Similar to other regions in Africa, rural Malagasy often see wildlife conservation as misguided because it prioritizes the needs of animals over people. Merely implementing restrictions will not alter the land-use practices of rural Malagasy unless rigorous monitoring and management of protected areas are conducted. The failure of land restrictions in other parts of Africa serves as evidence for this. Madagascar's commitment to biodiversity conservation, threatened by deforestation and harmful land-use, mirrors that of the Central African Republic (CAR), where protected areas cover 10.9% of the country.

The Central African Republic (CAR) has not successfully implemented effective economic incentives to discourage logging and poaching in most areas. Insufficient resources for patrolling and management have resulted in protected areas that are considered "paper parks," with formal conservation status but ongoing threats to biodiversity. Nevertheless, the current management plan lacks the

ability to safeguard Madagascar's distinctive ecosystems because it does not provide immediate and tangible benefits to impoverished rural communities. As a result, starving Malagasy individuals have no motivation to adhere to land-use restrictions.

The government's attempt to educate the population about the importance of conservation is unlikely to succeed due to the widespread poverty. The individuals focused on day-to-day survival will not prioritize learning about biodiversity and conservation. Without the cooperation of rural Malagasy, who cannot afford to enforce land restrictions on 6 million hectares, the EAP's conservation and development goals are unlikely to be achieved. Despite Ravalomanana's commitment to expanding protected areas, which is considered a significant announcement for conservationists, the current state of the EAP is ineffective. Without serious reevaluation and coordination at various levels, including local, national, regional, and international, Madagascar's remaining primary forests will be destroyed.