Can a network of “eco-villages” save Madagascar’s prehistoric biodiversity?
Eighteen of the 115 eco-villages, co-financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are scheduled for completion by January 2028. Local governance structures have been established to ensure these villages can operate autonomously after the project's end. The project will also support and train almost 5,000 households in livelihood skills like beekeeping, poultry and livestock farming, essential oils production, and waste recycling.
Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, is home to 5 per cent of the planet’s biodiversity including a unique array of endemic species and diverse wildlife. Today, habitat destruction, overexploitation, invasive species and climate change threaten this unique biodiversity.
Madagascar's situation is an example of how climate change is impacting countries least equipped to deal with its worst impacts. The country’s climate-induced droughts over the past few decades have disrupted agriculture, a primary livelihood for many Malagasy people, causing widespread food insecurity and malnutrition.
The country’s unique location makes it the fourth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change and particularly prone to powerful cyclones as climate change warms ocean temperatures increasing storm intensity and frequency such as 2023’s Cyclone Freddy. These storms have caused massive damage to crop and natural habitats, impacting local communities, biodiversity and landscapes.
Deforestation and illegal logging are also big problems. Many Malagasy farmers practice slash-and-burn agriculture, clearing what is often pristine forest, says Olivier. “The reality is that these livelihood activities put pressure on natural resources, which in turn undermines environmental sustainability.”
It is estimated that more than 80 per cent, driving biodiversity loss but also exacerbating the fallout from climate change. This is worrying for a nation where an overwhelming majority of the population depend for livelihood on natural resources, such as forests.
Traditional forest conservation efforts have not been successful because, as Olivier explains, “the approach was simply ‘don't burn’ or ‘don't cut.’ It focused solely on prohibition.”
The eco-village approach is different.
The designation of a site as eco-village transfers resource management rights to local communities with agreements renewed every five years. Eco-villages make decisions through a general assembly where members from the local community agree on actions together. This "bottom-up" approach gives everyone, including women and youth, a role in strengthening environmental protection.
People in the eco-villages also learn skills like tree growing, sustainable farming and composting, bolstering their incomes. Many villages use what is known as natural capital accounting, a system that measures the value of forests, water, land and other natural spaces. The tangible wealth of these ecosystems helps eco-village members assess and appreciate the economic value of their natural resources.
The framework includes targets to halt human-induced extinctions, sustainably managing biodiversity and ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems are under restoration.
“Balancing conservation with the needs of local communities remains a challenge,” says Johan Robinson, Chief of GEF Biodiversity and Land Degradation Unit at UNEP’s Ecosystem Division. To address this, he said, UNEP is working closely with local communities to align conservation efforts with sustainable development.
The Malagasy government has designated the Fandriana Vondrozo Midongy, a corridor of forests covering approximately 450,000 hectares, as a protected area and established eco-villages on its outskirts.
One of them is Sakaivo Nord. It is home to the Zafimaniry people, known for their rich heritage, including intricate wood-carving skills that UNESCO has recognized as a cultural treasure.
Noely Bary Zafimahatanony, the mayor of the rural commune of Kianjandrakefona that runs another eco-village says that what he finds remarkable about the eco-villages is the “unity and solidarity among the community members as they combat bushfires, plant trees and sustainable farming to increase yields, boosts farmers and achieve food security.”
The planet is experiencing a dangerous decline in nature. One million species are threatened with extinction, soil health is declining and water sources are drying up. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework sets out global targets to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. It was adopted by world leaders in December 2022. To address the drivers of the nature crisis, UNEP is working with partners to take action in landscapes and seascapes, transform our food systems, and close the finance gap for nature.
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