Meeting Notes, Day 3

USAID SANREM CRSP

Planning Grant Workshop

16 June - 20 June 2005

Centre ValBio, Ranomafana - Madagascar

Restoration of biodiversity and economic values to degraded rainforest and agricultural landscapes in southeastern Madagascar .

Meeting Notes and Summary, Day 3

Saturday - 18 June 2005 (AM)

• Round-table discussion with local leaders

• Introduction of discussants:

• Jean Andrimihaja Randriamboahary – Vokatry ny Ala project (forest product uses)

• Rakotolala Jean Baptiste – works with traditional healers

• Hasa Pierre – President of Ampanjaka Association in Ranomafana region

• Randalana Roger – Mayor of Ranomafana

• Jean Honoré Ralainandrasana – Communite de base representative from Ambatovaky ( northern corridor)

• Pasteur Eric Stevens Iata – Major of Ankarimbelo (southern corridor)

• What are the most important products to harvest from the forest?

• Roger – The forest is used by the people from this commune (Ranomafana) for: clean drinking water (which comes from the forest), medicinal plants, building materials for houses (timber woods for structure and pandanus for roofing and siding materials), precious woods to sell for cash, etc. Plus the forest contributes to soil preservation and nutrition which is very important for crops.

• Iata – Additionally, we (in the southern corridor-east) use forested land for slash-and-burn rice cultivation (9 out of every 10 families). They resort to tavy, because the region is hilly and they can't grow rice using paddy technology. The forest is also pasture for their cattle, and the best place for hunting (wild pigs and lemurs, frogs?) and getting honey. Because of population increase, they need to acquire new land. By cutting the forest first, they can claim “new” land for their families (even if they don't need it yet). The forest is also a place for the tombs and memorial stones pf the ancestors. Finally, the forest is protecting the history and culture of the people in the region (sacred forests, historical sites, etc.)

• Hary – I'm not from the corridor region, but I am conducting research there and want to share some of our results. The life of the people living in the corridor region depends strongly on the forest. For the agriculture, tavy is the only traditional form of rice cultivation that they know and, if they don't have enough rice, they will supplement their diet with products from the forest. They get food, medicines, etc…every thing that they need in their daily life from the forest. They don't know when they will need it, but they consider that they always have it to fall back on in difficult times.

• Ralainandrasana – On the west side of the corridor (north), collecting things from the corridor leads to income generation. Harvesting crayfish, eels, tenrecs, wild pigs, etc. They are either eaten by their families or sold for cash. The forest also gives them cultural things such as walking sticks/stakes, handles for their tools, traditional leaders need the “hazo manga” (a special type of wooden staff) from the forest for their traditional ceremonies, etc. Betsileo also get their firewood and charcoal for cooking (and sale) from the forest. Medicinal plants are still used and they also understand that water comes from the forest to water their crops. Finally, they have begun to see that having forest will bring ecotourists to the region.

• Rakotolala – The forest is so important. It is where we hid in 1947 to get away from the French. It is also a recreational place for the Tanala. The forest is beautiful, but sometimes there is no choice but to cut it for crop land (rice, beans, manioc, bananas, etc.) There is no more agricultural land available outside of the forest, so they need to extend their crop lands to feed their families and have products to sell. But even given this situation, we are ready for restoration to bring back forest to destroyed areas.

• Q: When you are doing agricultural tavy, how much money to you spend?

• A: We don't spend any money, we and our families just contribute the labor.

• Hasa: We live around the forest and the forest comes from our ancestors. It is beautiful, because our ancestors conserved it. This forest was so precious/sacred and no one can go in without the permission of the Ampanjaka (traditional leaders). As the population increases, they are becoming worried where the future generations will farm and they see the forest as this potential space. We need to conserve it because we can get meat, medicinal plants, trees for construction (furniture, homes, etc.), they can also sell wood for money. The elders agreed to have the Park, but it prohibits us from going into the Park. However, it means that the people of the region are getting poorer because they can't use that land any more. He asks SANREM to try to think about ways to raise their standard of living, because now that they said yes to the Park they can't change their mind…even though people are getting poorer. They promise that if the standard of living can be increased, they can promise that the Park won't be disturbed. Even if there is no restoration, natural regeneration would be enough (he estimates 5 years to regeneration), but they need help with agriculture to increase their standard of living. The people in Ranomafana only use slash and burn for agricultural regions (for a specific purpose and in a specific area), they don't burn without a reason.

• Roger: In summary, the forest provides things for the lives of the people and is very important to Malagasy life.

• Questions on the topic of forest products and forest restoration:

• Q1: (Jim) What kinds of “help” do you want in order to be able to not touch the forest?

• A1: (Hasa) He says that they have degraded soil, so need technical and financial support to be able to continue to farm the degraded soils. They don't want the forest trees but cash crops such as: bananas, coffee, manioc, etc. (Roger) Also need education. There is a big difference between those people living on the road and those living deep in the forest. When designing projects, you need to strongly involve those villages away from the road, where the poverty is the greatest.

• Comment: (Cay) It isn't just a question of adding fertilizer or another crop, but it is important to make a program for agricultural education (multi-cropping, adding legumes, agroforestry, etc.) to give better soil fertility and larger crops over long-term.

• Q2: (UFianar) 10 years ago, the Ampanjaka agreed to the Park, but he wants to know if they feel that they can keep the agreement? What are the local authorities doing for the conservation of the Park? What benefit do you receive from the Ecotourism?

• A2: (Hasa) We agreed to the creation of the Park because there were promises that the people living around the Park would benefit. (He wants to see benefit to each of the households). (Roger) When the government created the park, they promised benefits for the local people. But the local people don't feel that the projects that have occurred thus far have brought in the expected benefits. He thinks that there are many workshops without too many results.

• Q3: (Sarah to the mayors of the corridor) What would people in your region like, to allow them to avoid cutting down more of the forest?

• A3: (Iata) Most of the important issues center around education (raising awareness). This is especially true for the small children in the distant villages, who can't easily walk to the schools (they are too far away). Plus, by receiving an education, they will better understand the role of the forest/environment and also be able to find other types of jobs. The second thing is to support the farmers in bettering their agricultural techniques. Keeping their land productive and increase the productivity of fallow lands would prevent them from needing to seek out new crop lands. Third, sanitation and health education and access to medical help is important.

• Q4: (Mitch) Which forest products are used up the most quickly and which do you think that we should target for restoration first?

• A4: (Iata) In his region, people only use the forest for tavy and their biggest concern is obtaining more land. (Hary) They need intervention to help them find bamboo, pandanus, and crayfish outside of the forest, because these are the products that they use daily and that contribute to their cash income

• (Roger Leon) Wants to make clear that SANREM is concerned about usage in the corridor and the unprotected areas around the Parks. He thinks that people are getting off topic by focusing on the Park and its issues, which is already protected by very clear laws.

• Film of corridor fly-over (Sahambavy to Tolongiona) – provided by ERI

• Forest is only about 4-5km wide around Ranomena, which is threatening to divide the corridor (north/south)

• Government has been good about shutting down the illegal timber exploitation, but it leaves the local people with no money to buy rice…so they have to cut the forest to farm rice, instead. And the net loss of forest is the same.

• Sarah: SANREM is here to do research to help us understand and possibly find solutions to the contradictions between development and conservation. Yesterday, Mark gave a great presentation showing some of the outcomes of restoration. Only one of these options will lead to the restoration of biodiversity rich forest. To get to this point (allow for it), there are many steps that need to be taken first, involving development, biodiversity conservation, etc.

• The workshop participants will divide into groups geographically (self-selecting) into East and West sides of the corridor and then divide by language groups. The SANREM group wants to learn about local priorities and have identified 7 products from this morning's discussion that appear to have lifestyle supporting and/or income generating potential. (Groups can add to the list.) We want a 5-year plan on how can use/grow these products on degraded lands.

• Medicinal plants

• Bamboo

• Pandanus

• Construction wood

• Essential oil production

• Crayfish

• Honey

• Rank from most to least important, ease of production, those that can only be found in forest, and those with the best markets (biggest demands).

• What do we know/not know about growing these products that is important to the restoration process.

Saturday - 18 June 2005 (PM)

• Presentation of results of breakout sessions:

• East (English): We began at a very general level and did a lot of brainstorming, we came up with a variety of ideas but not any specific conclusions

• Added fruit trees, silk products, Harungana , and legume farming to the list.

• Tried to contextualize each of these products/crops with the objective of figuring out how to prevent the destruction of additional forest.

• How can we make degraded lands/depleted soils more productive?

• How to use the forest in a sustainable/low impact way?

• Create community wood lots where forest products can be grown near the villages and outside of the pristine forest.

• Ideas: intercropping (better way to keep nutrients in the soil), rotating between fields so that they can lay fallow for as long as possible (and improve soils in fallow periods by composting (can use ginger as mulch) or planting herbs, legumes, etc., growing crops on low yield soils with non-food purposes (ie: bamboo), increase water management (to better irrigate crops, grow rice, etc.), communal management of forests can be controlled by “dina” (need to be strengthened and spread them to new communities), diversifying crops (cash and food) to provide both types of incomes.

• Specifics: Essential oil products (can use the roots of ginger, which is valuable on the international market and grows will in poor soils and full sun, in addition to composting and fruit benefits), Medicinal plants (grow to sell on Malagasy market in areas that no longer have their own forests), grow Cyprus as a replacement for pandanus (for mats, baskets, sale, etc.) near villages, consider paper production, silk production, etc following market studies.

• Q: (Roger) Why are you so interested in Harungana ?

• A: Because it is easy to grow, grows on degraded land, is a native species, other things can be planted under it, has medicinal and construction properties, etc.

• East (Malagasy):

• Medicinal plants – It is still possible to harvest the needed medicines from the forest, and this is currently a source of income for some people in the region. People around the park tend to know medicinal plants, but those that live further away have less knowledge of them and how to use them. Because many people don't know the uses of medicinal plants, we need to educate people to their importance and the fact that they are found in the forest. We should try to farm (for use and sale) outside of the forest, but need a market study to know where to sell them.

• Bamboo – Used for house construction, furniture, fences and baskets. In the east, bamboo seems to grow well in degraded areas. It is also a lemur food and an invasive plant. If it is to be used sustainably, we need to be able to produce more and investigate the ecological equilibrium that needs to be reached in order to exploit bamboo sustainably. They want to learn how to plant bamboo outside of the Park.

• Pandanus – Used for the roof of houses, irrigation, habitat for frogs, snails, etc. and mat weaving. Because it grows so slowly, it is rare in the forest and would like to see it planted close to the villages.

• Construction woods: Availability of ravinala is decreasing. Suggest that they could farm ravinala and that there is a need for law enforcement in areas where the ravinala is still available and a replanting plan for areas of ravinala rarity.

• Essential Oils: A good source of income, can grow these trees in the abundant degraded land. In the eastern part of the corridor, there is already some use of these trees. (i.e. Ravitsara However, they are rare and people can't find seeds to grow more.) Solution: needs organization of the industry and education about how to grow the trees and extract the oils.

• Other forest products: The people in the east use crayfish, eels, and crabs as a source of income, but stocks are decreasing and say that there is a need for stricter management. There has already been research on the biology of some of these animals, but they would like research on farming them. Honey is used as food, medicine, and is a source of income. There is a lot of honey production in Vohibe, but in general there are not enough of the trees/flowers that the bees like to make the honey from and the bee hives are still of the traditional structure throughout the corridor. Because of the fire (from tavy and charcoal making) the bees have abandoned the hives, so training in proper apiculture techniques and the proper tools is necessary. Need to stop tavy around hives and provide more trees with attractive flowers.

• Ranking of priorities:

• Honey

• Year 1: honey investigation, training, and marketing

• Year 2: plant the right trees for the honey bees, more training, some production

• Years 3+: continue production, sell honey in market, expand production

• Construction woods

• Year 1: investigate where to plant, education on sustainable use, identifying species to use, training in forestry practices

• Years 2+: plant and maintain the trees for harvesting

• Medicinal plants

• Essential oils

• Bamboo

• West (Malagasy):

• Rank of priorities:

• Fuel wood

• can only restore if have 5 or more years

• pine and eucalyptus are well known but need training if are to use native woods

• Crayfish

• if can manage the production well, can see results in one year

• need training on how to manage and restore stocks

• Pandanus

• if can manage the production well, can see results in one year

• Cyprus is well understood, but need training on how to manage pandanus

• Medicinal plants

• one, five or ten years, depending on the species

• production and management not yet understood

• Construction woods

• can only restore if have 5 or more years

• pine and eucalyptus are well known but need training if are to use native woods

• Trees for tools/equipment

• can only restore if have 5 or more years

• pine and eucalyptus are well known but need training if are to use native woods

• Bamboo

• Don't know about restoration

• Essential oils

• Are not yet extracting, so need training, marketing, etc.

• Honey

• Know how to manage well

• Fruit trees

• Know how to manage well

• Meat

• Need assistance to learn how to manage collection of forest animals

• Places for restoration to begin: It is very important that the local communities where management transfer has already occurred should be involved in the project. It is also important to do restoration in places where timber exploitation happened in the past.

• West (English): General recommendations on how to choose right plants in different areas.

• First need to look at the topography of the land, because different species require different habitats.

• Forests are often found on the tops of hills (primary, secondary, and often fire degraded types from highest to lowest altitudes)

• Tanety formation next with grasses and ampanga, used for pasture land

• Baibao – high productivity area close to valley (easy access)

• Rice paddy or lowland swamps

• Second, need to make an economic distinction, because there is a big difference between those areas with access to a market economy and those areas that don't have ready access to a market.

• i.e. can sell fruits if are close to the road, but not if live too far away

• easy access to market also makes it more reasonable to grow more of a product than what is needed for personal consumption

• when far away from markets, the only kind of cash crops are those that are high price/kilo and won't spoil on the way to the market

• Forest areas: construction woods (hard woods, bamboo, and pandanus) in both areas, but can only grow fruit trees if are close to the market

• Tanety: vetiver, bamboo, apiculture

• Baibao: fish farming (native or nonnative)

• Lowland swamps: are rare and have bird species, so can introduce ecotourism to raise the value of land (especially because bird people will go to great lengths to see these rare birds)

• Recommendations to SANREM:

• Make a review of existing projects and local strategies so you don't reinvent the wheel.

• Carefully rank the species that will use for restoration using multiple criteria (topography, access to markets, tenure consideration, energy/resource consumption in completing the project, etc.)

• Understand why past projects have failed (might technically be the right solution but cultural or social situation, land tenure, economic situation, etc. have kept it from succeeding).

• Knowledge dissemination between partners is crucial (go to areas where working to give technical expertise but also get feed back periodically to see if programs are working over time).

• Radio

• Brochures

• Etc.

• We know that corridor is threatened in several areas, so would be a good place to start work there (railroad corridor, Ambohiamamasina, etc.)

• In preparation to expand this project to other areas of Madagascar , you must try to understand why projects work or don't work on either side of the corridor (different culture, land tenure systems, etc.)

• Susan: USDA Forest Service, Research ecologist, see Presentation

• Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry

• In charge of 130 islands speaking >15 languages (an area spanning the same distance as the continental US)

• Small islands, long cultural history, new creation through

• Similar to Madagascar :

• 90% endemism of animal species

• largest tropical rainforest in US

• designated as a global hotspot for biodiversity

• many species highly threatened because of habitat disturbance and invasive species

• Mission : develop and disseminate knowledge needed to restore, protect, and sustain the biodiversity of the islands for conservation and utilization

• 4 teams: tropical forest wetlands, invasive species, restoration of ecosystem processes, forest management services

• Big Issues:

• Invasive species – study biology, ecological effects, and control

• Breaking the exotic grass/wildfire cycle

• Ecological approaches to native forest restoration in highly fragmented/degraded landscapes

• Ecology and sustainable management of wetland forests, streams, and estuaries

• Water quality – human consumption, freshwater and marine ecosystems

• Effects of global change on these ecosystems and their inhabitants

• Linkages between forests, streams, estuaries, and reefs (ocean) at water-shed level

• Restoration in Hawaii

• Work to restore forests subject to disturbance (fire, exotic plants, large herbivores, rodents, predators, soil degradation, species extinctions, climate changes) to original state

• Wet forest on east and dry forest on west (just like Madagascar )

• But ecosystems have changed due to human impact, especially the destruction of the native dry forests in the lowlands

• Strong impact on the distribution of native species

• Restoration examples:

• Nene goose (population went 50 to 5,000, with intervention)

• Hawaiian silversword plant (from a few individuals to 15,000, with intervention)

• Ecological services and economic incentives – linked restoration of Hawaiian Koa tree to economic incentives and now see endangered birds roosting in the trees

• Passive and Active restoration of native dry forest ecosystems

• Dry forests of Hawaii are species rich when compared to rainforests

• Most of endangered species found in the one small remaining patch of dry forest

• Ungulate grazing and fires have removed the understory from under the mature trees so don't get a natural regeneration process

• When removed non-native grass that lived under the trees, got an explosion of native vine species, then an influx of native shrubs, and then after micro-environment was altered, tree seedlings began to shoot up.

• Used this finding as a model and are now trying to restore larger areas of grass

• Applied different treatments to grass sample-patches and will follow up with seeding in the successional sequence learned from experimentation in dry forest patches

• Burning led to grass growing back thicker and greener than before!

• Herbicide treatments hold more hope

• What don't we know?

• Emergent ecosystems – is what we get real? Is it sustainable?

• Fire tolerance of new ecosystem (will it burn too easily?)

• Impacts of loss on pollinators and seed dispersers (will the forest be able to maintain itself?)

• Recovery of plant associations

• Can you walk away or will management always be necessary?

• Restoration in Costa Rica (Guanacaste)

• Dan Janzen's technological recipe for restoration

• Purchase large tracts of marginal ranch and farmland , connect it with wetter forests (corridors), stop the fires, hunting, and logging and let nature take its original form

• Guanacaste region is much like the corridor, where there are many people and many towns in the area, national park land, etc.

• Would buy up land as it became available using trust fund money

• Large area, highly seasonal environment of precious forest, has been site of subsistence agriculture, hunting, logging, and fires since 1600's

• Success? Obtained global funding to purchase land, stopped the fires through redirection of employment, leveraged political will, etc. Now this protected land represents 2% of Costa Rica , have turned large areas of old pasture land into young regenerating forest, have obtained a mandate to teach basic biology to all school children in a 30km radius (have an onsite conservation center)

• When left alone, it takes about 8 years for cleared land to revert to forest

• Have used novel methods to redirect employment – preservation of biodiversity doesn't pay the bills, need long-term non-damaging ways to use conserved areas

• Biodegrader of agroscape waste (smothers grasslands with orange peels to fertilize land and kill off grass)

• ACG as Gmelina Forester (use shade from fast-growing forestry trees to kill off grasses and allow native species to take hold, then rapidly harvest the forestry trees and allow the native trees to keep growing)

• Biodiversity Yellow pages – attract people from around the world to the region to do research and tourism (hire local guides, use local knowledge, need housing and services, etc.)

• Charlie – Madagascar Fauna Group's work in Taomasina, See Presentation 8

• 1987-2004 – worked in forestry station Ivaloina and RNI Betampona (MFG's two major projects)

• Shows forest cover map for Betampona – the forest is completely isolated and almost solely located inside the RNI's boundaries

• Lowland rainforest

• No chance for corridors, because there is no forest near Zahamena (only classified forests in between have been destroyed)

• Some disturbance within RNI

• High biodiversity region (lowland rainforest)

• Main objective of MFG at Betampona was the release/reintroduction of Varecia into the Reserve, but also inventories of flora and fauna, environmental education, reforestation, etc.

• Reforestation program has several different approaches:

• The work in Betampona is to create a buffer zone around the existing forest (tavy pressure present)

• At Ivaloina have demonstration plots for local people to observe process of reforestation

• Give trees to villagers to replant their land (both eucalyptus and native trees)

• Planted 80,000 trees (30,000 native trees – 60 species)

• Collaborate with ANGAP in Betampona and DEF at Ivaloina

• Environmental education through the zoo, model station/demonstration sites, supporting university students, etc.

• Use demonstration site to exhibit alternatives to tavy: rice paddies with SRI technique, vegetable plots ringed with vetiver, planting fruit trees and commercial crops, tree nursery, etc. (Both native and exotic species)

• US Embassy self-help grant allowed to put up signage and graphics

• Reforestation:

• Replanted native species in areas with some forest left and acacia and eucalyptus in areas that were badly degraded

• Would put acacia in first to create shade and then would plant native species under it, plus the acacia leaves help to create a new layer of topsoil and shade kills off the ferns

• Also tried Harungana as the initial species and then planted other species under it. It is early into the project, but this also seems to be working well

• This kind of reforestation is extremely labor intensive and being able to start restoration before the forests is completely destroyed is extremely important

• Now wants to put out a small pamphlet with information on the propagation of native species seeds and how to use them to reforest (but will likely have a region specific function)

• From experience would recommend ramy and voapaca for reforestation

• Most adaptable in terms of sunlight levels, soil moisture, soil richness, etc.

• Environmental education program:

• Uses the model station

• Saturday school – kids elect to come in for information and training on Saturdays

• Working with kids is easiest and most productive because they are open and receptive to learning new things

Saturday - 18 June 2005 (PM)

• Mitch – Lemur conservation and reforestation in Tsinjoarivo, See Presentation 9

• Preliminary thoughts on how to pair research and conservation in eastern Madagascar

• Have high population pressure moving across the high plateau from west towards east, resulting in forest fragmentation.

• More of a question of what to do about forest fragments on the edge of the continuous forest

• Landscape presents a big problem for survival of lemur species within fragments

• Sub-adults delay dispersal with in fragments

• Through research have had to form relationships with different organizations working in the area, which now can be used to propel the reforestation and conservation education components forward

• Such teams better understand the local culture

• Can use biodiversity of indicator of success of project

• Will be planting small-scale corridors to connect the larger forest fragments

• Selected a “new tree” (seva – Solanum mauritianum ) to plant first, selected because other native pioneer species (like Harungana ) aren't found at the site

• Grows well in full sun, will only grow to 3m high

• Will plant native species under it, which will eventually replace it

• Considering adding a buffer zone of eucalyptus around corridor to be used for extraction by local people, but haven't made the final decision

• Q1: (Jim) How wide do the corridors have to be?

• A1: Animals have been observed to use fairly thin corridors (15-20m), so they probably don't have to be too big.

• Q2 (Jim) Why do you need a pioneer species if we know that trees can grow without the shade?

• A2: We are trying to model the natural condition and it might help them to grow more quickly or prevent sapling mortality.

• Q3: (Daniela) What is the land tenure situation and how will that affect things?

• A3: The forest is recently cleared, so although it is illegal to clear, they can farm already cleared lands. We are going to try to put the corridors on ridges, which are often the most difficult areas to farm and we are relying on the local community's good will to protect that area. From the beginning of 2003, we have tried to establish a good relationship with the community. We have visited the local schools each month to give presentations, and built a new primary school for local community (in conjunction with Ankizy Foundation).

• Q4: Isn't it bad to use an invasive species as a pioneer species?

• A4: It is already there (on the forest edges), it can only grow in areas with a lot of sunlight, only lives about 10 years, and is eaten by the animals.

• Q5: Are their any animals to disperse the seeds and spread the corridor forest?

• A5: The two Eulemur species have almost disappeared from the fragments but hope that can be dispersed by rats, etc.

• Haja Randrianarisoa: ERI – Land tenure, gender, and management of the forest corridor, See Presentation 10

• Land tenure is very important for rural development and reforestation

• Definition: a group of institutions, laws/rules, and sanctions that determine the acquisition, usage, and transfer of natural resource rights

• Along the corridor, land tenure exists in many forms

• It is a complex and dynamic system, fitting with the history and culture of Madagascar and the people of the region (has changed several times throughout history with changes in the political structure)

• Tanala/Bara/Betsileo traditional systems to define land tenure don't fit with the modern set of government imposed laws

• Modern system joins new element in bringing more complexity to the situation (i.e. Durban vision, GELOSE, GCF, and OPCI)

• If want to bring more clarification to the situation, we need to start with the theoretical before can get to implication

• Theoretical: Malagasy government already has laws/codes on the books and already know the value and power of tradition and cultural history

• Reality: In daily life, people need to use land and have historical practices for managing the land that conflict with the laws

• Example of land tenure issues in reality:

• Rice paddies: ownership is well understood and typically under a clear system of ownership and transfer (inherited from ancestors to descendants), roles of men and women are well understood and inheritance is clear

• Commercial crops: ownership is pretty clear because initial planting was established and is maintained by ‘owners', but tree plantations and reforestation create problems, because one could be creating boundaries around someone's cropland

• Ridge tops: not clear who owns this type of land and is subject to great problems and is often contested

• Land left fallow: difficult to decide ownership, when it is time to replant the area

• Land surrounding the rice fields: also an ambiguous area

• Areas with invasive plants: subject to problems whenever the plant is of some commercial value

• On the west side of the corridor (Betsileo side), there are many large clans and the clans own the land (no state sanctioned system), land is typically inherited through the male line, culture of buying and selling land – and often interested in selling land for cash income because population pressure is high

• On the east (Tanala) side of the corridor, the traditional kings tend to have more power (smaller family groups), land is more equally inherited between men and women – but men still tend to benefit more, land is divided up with each generation and people will farm new slopes as they need more land

• Current land tenure trends:

• Several different traditional systems exist within the region and these traditional systems are stronger (more powerful) than the modern legal system

• Big differences exist between the systems found on the east and west sides of the corridor and migration patterns follow land tenure traditions (i.e. Betsileo men can claim as much new land as they can clear).

• When land is left fallow for several years, it is common for ownership battles to result.

• The greater the value of the land, the more conflicts result

• Legal land tenure statutes:

• Problems result when the government tries to acquire land for communal purposes. Because there is the belief that all land belongs to someone in the region.

• The laws are very complex on land tenure, which makes it very difficult to understand and enforce at the local level. Plus, even when forest zoning laws are made very clear (at the level of the state), they are often ignored at the local levels

• The corridor is locally regarded as a “free area”, because of lack of formal legal status, and people think that no one owns it (ambiguity over ownership) and many people try to use it. Additionally, because it has no specific status, the areas and exploitation tend to be uncontrolled.

• Even if given a specific status, there will remain local cultural vision of the land as being “available”

• These issues need to be taken into account during the development of the project

• Q1: (Tantely) What ethnic groups live in the East?

• A1: There are some other ethnic groups in the east, but the Tanala is the dominant group.

• Q2: (Pat) Is it true that there is currently no classified forest in any area of the corridor?

• A2: Wants to ask DEF to answer that question. (DEF) Officially, the forest corridor land belongs to the state (Domain Privet de l'Etat ). Area between Andringitra and Vondrozo is in the process of being transferred from the state to DEF, but the process is not completed (it is currently considered Foret Affectée ).

• Comment: (?) The corridor is traditionally divided between the Betsileo and Tanala along a clear (to them) boundary. Says that the source of the problem is that when ‘other groups' take action in the area, they don't discuss the situation with the traditional leaders and instead go to the political leaders who don't understand the traditional land division.

• Cay – Using forest silk to support corridor conservation, See Presentation 11

• Biodiversity can only be saved if the people living in it can be given alternatives to tavy and hunting (human poverty and habitat poverty are inextricably linked)

• Native silk moth farming is one strategy

• Successful silk moth farming requires three things:

• What are the markets? (already have info)

• How much is the initial investment? (and culturally acceptable) (currently working on)

• Info on the biology of the native moths and what silks are available (currently working on)

• Not all silk is the same

• Some types of silk are more valuable than others

• Some silks are porous and others are compact

• Current silk production in Madagascar is compact, but porous silk is more valuable, so she is looking to see if porous ones can be identified in the region

• Silk is used in Madagascar to produce lambas, clothes, shoes, handbags, etc.

• Current exports are to France and the US , but at low volume

• Hoping to develop an Anaphe sp . moth to produce silk in the region (similar to the silk moth species farmed in parts of Africa ), but this is a compact silk

• The porous silks used in Asia ( Indonesia ) has created a huge market in 10 years. Used for clothing, paper, hats, umbrellas, etc.

• Appear to be several potential porous fiber cocoon moths in Ranomafana. There is already a market identified for these products, but we need to figure out how to produce/farm them.

• Ranomafana appears to have a high diversity of silk moth species, which suggests that we will be able to find them in the corridor, as well.

• >31 morphospecies of larvae found in Ranomafana in a 6-month period

• eat different food plants (native species and guava)

• have different life-cycle durations (2-5 generations in 6 months)

• appear to be species active at different times of the year

• all samples thus far have been collected from near the road, so imagine what could find in other areas of the park

• Need to figure out how to rear large number efficiently, so are trying a variety of rearing techniques used in other farming areas to experiment with what will work well in Madagascar (i.e. basket rearing, outdoor plots, enclosed cocoons, etc.)

• Larvae are hard to find and is time consuming (8x as many people helped to collect when offered rice as a reward over cash)

• Silk farming creates a lot of jobs (farming – will be primarily in the wet season, spinning, weaving, selling, etc.)

• Next going to do a cost-based analysis for Ranomafana silk worms

• Want to return the highest price for local people. Just farming the silk doesn't bring enough in, so need to keep the production local, as well, to gain greatest benefit

• Will create jobs for women and families

• Q1: There are already several projects on silk in Madagascar , do you support their activities or are you working on something different?

• A1: We are only interested in working on native species, want to increase abundance of some silk moths that are currently rare due to over harvesting and want to explore other types of silks that aren't currently being used.

• Bakoli – ICBG drug discovery project, See Presentation 12

• Currently working under a planning grant to look at the potential for finding drug products and expanding economic development in Madagascar (and save biodiversity and valorize traditional practices in the process)

• Accomplishments:

• Monthly meetings with traditional healers and leaders

• Signing of intellectual property and benefit sharing agreements

• Rehabilitation of chemistry lab at the University of Tana (in process of rehabilitating lab at University of Fianarantsoa , too)

• Established medicinal plant nursery

• Initiated weaving program for the local women's cooperative

• Begun field plant collection and chemical extractions

• Suggest that SANREM include medicinal plants in the restoration process and is willing to partner with them

• Plant sample selection (for testing) made in consultation with 57 traditional healers and leaders from the region and conducted by Malagasy parataxonomists and students (not random collection)

• Contributes to biodiversity conservation through the collection and propagation of rare plant species and establishment of medicinal plant gardens to allow for sustainable use

• To solidify the exchange of information and build trust between project and local people, we are sharing all of the methodologies and findings with them (i.e. field trip to the laboratory in Antananarivo to observe the extraction process)

• Any potential royalties from the project will be divided with 50% going to Madagascar and 50% going to international partners. Within Madagascar , their portion will be divided with 38% of profits going to the associations of the traditional leaders and healers and 31% each to the Universities of Antananarivo and Fianarantsoa.

• Impact of ICBG programs:

• Valorization of local traditions

• Economic development

• Capacity building

• Biodiversity conservation

• Drug discovery

• Q1: (Roger) What is the agenda for after September, if the project is only for two years?

• A1: The 2-year grant was a planning grant to establish the procedures needed. The 5-year large grant has already been submitted, which would continue the project through 2009.

• Q2: Is there any possibility for local communities to have medicinal plant nurseries in their villages, so they can be more involved in the project?

• A2: (Pascal) It is a good idea for every village to have a nursery. However they are currently carrying out a market study and would suggest waiting until we know which products have markets before deciding what to plant.