Communities committed for a sustainable fuelwood value chain

Communities in Beantake, Ambatry and Masiaboay were awarded a renewal of their three-year natural resource management contract.

The Malagasy forestry administration, with the support of WWF, promotes the sustainable management of forests for the production of fuelwood. It renewed its confidence in five local community organizations in the district of Betioky Sud. These grassroots communities in Beantake, Ambatry and Masiaboay were awarded a renewal of their three-year natural resource management contracts.

The commitment of these communities is a breath of fresh air for the spiny forest of southern Madagascar, one of the richest in the world in terms of endemic species. Indeed, almost all the fulwood consumed by the population in the region comes from the spiny forest. And the areas exploited extend increasingly to national parks, protected areas (Amoron'i Onilahy and Tsinjoriake) and the southern coastal areas of the Atsimo Andrefana Region.

These communities have committed to setting quotas for charcoal production. They will put in place a control system and continue the implementation of a community tax on charcoal in order to strengthen the chain and ensure its sustainability. And communities are also doing reforestation to restore production areas ... Ultimately, the Mahafaly Plateau communities themselves will sustainably manage the charcoal produced in their forests.