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The youth of the village of Bosy take in hand the future of the mangroves of their village

Posted on 13 August 2021

In January 2021, the community of the village of Bosy, living near the mangroves of the protected area Menabe Antimena, in the Menabe region, decided to create an association, "Bosy Miraisoa" (Bosy solidary in English). The purpose of the association is the sustainable management of some 5,000 hectares of surrounding mangroves. This grassroots community currently has 200 members.

Pierre, 28 years old, is the vice-president of "Bosy Miraisoa". He is one of the community patrollers who monitor and control the mangroves around his village. In all, there are ten patrollers who make up the village's mangrove protection committee, composed of eight men and two women between the ages of 22 and 40. Their job is to conduct raids four times a month. Often they have to make long walks or crossings to check the condition of the entire area to be monitored. When they come across illegal exploitation, they make reports to the president of the community and the Regional Office of Environment and Sustainable Development so that appropriate measures can be taken.

"It is important that young people get involved in the conservation of mangroves, the main natural resources of our village, it is the only way that future generations can use the services offered by these wealth offered by nature" says Pierre. He tells us that in his grandfather's time, regulation fishing nets with a mesh size of 4 cm were enough to fill a whole pirogue with fish. Today, they sometimes observe fishermen using illegal nets of up to 1 kilometer in length, but they do not even manage to get a bowl of fish. These changes in his daily life led him to commit and mobilize the villagers to conserve the mangroves and avoid overexploitation of fish. The WWF technically supports the association "Bosy Miraisoa" in the conservation and sustainable management of these natural resources.