Conservation International Supports COVID-19 Efforts in Madagascar

Like many other countries, Madagascar has not been spared by the COVID-19 pandemic; the government officially announced a lockdown on March 21st, 2020 affecting many activities including field work by Conservation International Madagascar staff.

In the eastern forest corridors of Ankeniheny-Zahamena (CAZ) and Ambositra-Vondrozo (COFAV) where CI Madagascar operates, partner communities were able to safely continue some level of patrolling and monitoring of forests, maintaining tree nurseries and demonstration sites for climate-smart agriculture, thanks to the training they had received prior to the pandemic. CI Madagascar staff were able to maintain telephone communication with the community focal points to monitor activities and advise on COVID-19 safety measures.

Amid the lockdown, routine forest patrols within CAZ and COFAV encountered camps established by hundreds of illegal, small-scale gold and amethyst miners; they were clearing trees and digging up the ground, taking advantage of the COVID-19 disruptions to encroach parts of the critically-important forest corridors.

In response, CI Madagascar organized and supported joint missions by Madagascar’s Decentralized Services of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD), local government officials and communities to remove the illegal miners from the forests. To ensure safety of the mission members, CI Madagascar also provided masks and sanitizers.

To help efforts against the COVID-19, CI Madagascar staff also did the following:

• Distributed 520 liters of disinfectant among communities in the District of Moramanga within the forest corridor of Ankeniheny- Zahamena (CAZ).

• Carried out awareness on COVID-19 in 20 municipalities within the Ambositra-Vondrozo (COFAV) forest corridor.
• Supported local radio broadcasts to spread community awareness about COVID-19 including the relationship between pandemics and destruction of nature.

In all activities involving contacts with communities, CI Madagascar team members underwent coronavirus tests to confirm they were not infected before going to the field. This was necessary to avoid spreading the coronavirus to rural communities.