A landscape vital to maintaining Madagascar's rich biodiversity is
expected to be officially protected by that nation's government in
the next few weeks, according to The Peregrine Fund, a Boise-based
conservation organization for birds of prey.

Located on the western coast of Madagascar, the Manambolomaty Lakes
region is home to many rare species found nowhere else on Earth,
including the Madagascar Fish-Eagle, a critically endangered species.
The site will be added to the System of Protected Areas of
Madagascar, a program that protects biodiversity while reducing
poverty and promoting rural development.

"After 13 years of hard work on this project, it is gratifying to be
so near our goal of conserving this incredible area," said Russell
Thorstrom, a Peregrine Fund biologist. Details of the process leading
up to protection for the region are described in a paper co-authored
by Thorstrom and published in the December issue of "Madagascar
Conservation & Development."

The 57-square-mile Manambolomaty Lakes region is being managed, with
The Peregrine Fund's assistance, by two associations of local
residents who historically used taboos, religious customs and social
conventions to maintain natural resources at sustainable levels and
allow a local economy to thrive. The system was threatened in the
1990s by immigrants over-fishing the lakes and cutting down portions
of the surrounding forest, which provide habitat for fish-eagles and
other endemic species.

The two associations were formed in 1997 and 2000 to benefit from a
new Malagasy law that empowers local communities to sustainably
manage their natural resources. Thorstrom said the associations have
proven they are capable of dealing with such issues by blending new
regulations with traditional customs. No traces of slash-and-burn
agriculture have been found in the forest and over-fishing has been
controlled. Meanwhile, the fisheries management system has increased
annual local revenue by an estimated $1,562 per fisherman per season,
according to Peregrine Fund research.

Becoming part of the System of Protected Areas will further
strengthen enforcement and monitoring to avert resource exploitation
in the future, Thorstrom said.

"Early on, we wanted to help the Malagasy people help themselves to
conserve endangered raptors and other wildlife," Thorstrom said. "Our
experience has shown that species can be protected successfully with
plans that incorporate strong involvement by traditional societies
and self-enforced codes of conduct that are handed down from
generation to generation."

The management plan has been so successful that it is being used as a
model by other non-profit organizations working in Madagascar,
Thorstrom said.

In 1998, the Manobolomaty region was one of the first sites in
Madagascar to be listed in the Ramsar Convention, an international
treaty that protects globally significant wetlands. The region
consists of four lakes surrounded by a deciduous forest. Significant
resources include:

• More than 50 species of water birds, including five threatened
species.
• In the forested areas, 80 bird species and seven lemur species,
including two that are threatened.
• The endangered freshwater big-headed turtle.
• A unique source of an endemic tree that is important to the
Sakalava people, who consider it an honor to buried in coffins made
with wood from the tree.

The Peregrine Fund, based in Boise, Idaho, first began working in the
island nation 18 years ago to survey and conserve threatened birds of
prey and their habitat. The organization is assisting in two other
regions to be included in Madagascar's System of Protected Areas.