The Ala Programme (ala meaning forest in Malagasy) is a ten-year littoral forest conservation strategy that was launched in 2019. Moving into Phase IV, the project will focus on increasing forest connectivity and empowering local management through the continued expansion and improvement of the S8 corridors and capacity-strengthening of community-based management frameworks to maintain long term conservation.
With some of the highest levels of endemism seen globally, Madagascar is one the world's largest conservation priorities. Despite this, forest loss continues to threaten Madagascar's unique flora and fauna. As a result, lemurs have been categorised as one of the world's threatened mammals. Littoral forests are also one of the most threatened ecosystems with the Anosy region containing some of the few remaining viable littoral forests in the country, including the Sainte Luce littoral forest.
Previous phases supported the planting of five forest corridors using Acacia mangium and native seedlings, now forming a mostly closed canopy and are now being used by endangered lemurs since 2024. The upcoming, two-year phase will focus on improving the function and resilience of the S8 corridors through expanded planting and improved techniques as well as promoting sustainable forest use through strong, locally led management frameworks and a reduced reliance on forest resources.
Long-term impact will include, improved forest connectivity in S8 through the expansion of existing corridors using native tree species, alongside strengthened community-based forest management in Sainte Luce. This will be supported through an effective, transparent, and independent COBA (Communaute de Base), a community-led natural resource management model proven to deliver positive conservation outcomes elsewhere in Madagascar.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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