Madagascar Protected Areas and Biodiversity Fund (FAPBM) will fund 15 additional protected areas. Starting in 2023, 64 of the 123 protected areas in the Madagascar Protected Areas System (SAPM) will receive annual grants from FAPBM.
The total planned funding amounts to 17.9 billion Ariary (approx. USD 4,428,000). The total area of protected areas funded will cover approximately 5,286,000ha, or about 70% of the total area of the SAPM.
15 new sites could have been added thanks to an endowment from KFW to the capital of the FAPBM in 2021, and a contribution from Global Environment Facility – Conservation International in 2020.
The new sites were selected based on their wealthiness of biodiversity and the threats on it. All sites already funded by FAPBM receive additional funding. In total, FAPBM funding to protected areas will increase by approximately 43% from 2022. This exceptional effort was decided by the Board of Trustees in response to the rapid degradation of biodiversity, particularly due to deforestation.
FAPBM provides about 30% of the budget of funded protected areas. While the priority is tosecure operating activities, funding is also used to support conservation and community development activities.
“By agreeing to finance long-term operating costs of protected areas managers, FAPBM is positioning itself in a niche that donors traditionally refuse to finance. This is very important for securing long-term core activities for the sound management of the protected area and for attracting other donors,” witnessed a protected areamanager.
What about the 123 protected areas? “Our next goal is to fund 72 protected areas by 2026.Together with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and Madagascar National Parks, as well as NGOs and donors, we have set up the Madagascar Protected Areas Coalition. Its mission is to mobilize strong and sustainable financial and political support for protected areas. Together we are pursuing a fundraising campaign for Madagascar’s protected areas. We are appealing not only to international donors, but also to national donors, including the private sector. For this, we want to develop other financing instruments,” stressed the President of the Board of Trustees, Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana.
