About Us

News

(June 27, 2014) The Sectoral Innovation Facility for NGOs (FISONG) is a funding tool from Agence Française de Développement (AFD) which makes the most of NGOs’ specialist know-how and ability to inno- vate. A call for themed projects was launched in 2012 around the theme ‘Biodiversity and devel- opment: sharing the benefits of biodiversity for village communities’. Community management of natural resources can protect ecosystems better and ensure that they are used sustainably w...

READ THE STORY

(June 27, 2014) Through collaborative efforts with Wildlife Con- servation Society and resources users, the Minis- try of Fisheries adopted in September 2013 the first seascape scale traditional, artisanal and in- dustrial fisheries co-management plan in Mada- gascar. This 5- year plan for Antongil Bay fisher- ies, established through a bottom-up approach (108 meetings, 6 workshops, 1466 participants), covers 3,746 square kilometers of marine habi- tats and officially confers fisheries management authority to l...

READ THE STORY

(June 27, 2014) Antongil Bay is the largest semi-enclosed bay in Madagascar and is among the most productive in the Indian Ocean, also serving as a mating and nursery ground for many marine species. 150,000 subsistence farmers and fishers live in 95 villages along the Bay. In order to reverse decline in fish resources, since 2008 the Wildlife Conservation Society has worked with several coastal villages in the bay to establish Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMA). Each LMMA includes at least a no-tak...

READ THE STORY

(June 27, 2014) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encour- age the identification, protection and preserva- tion of World Cultural and Natural Heritage around the world considered to be of Outstanding Universal Value. The first marine World Heritage site was Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, inscribed in 1981. Now there are 45 World Heritage sites listed specifically for their marine values, includ- ing many of the largest and most pristine mari...

READ THE STORY

(June 27, 2014) The Wildlife Conservation Society publishes the first-ever field guide for Madagascar’s staggering marine biodiversity, which ranges from the larg- est expanse of coral reefs in the Western Indian Ocean to one of the world’s largest breeding grounds for humpback whales. Madagascar sup- ports greater total marine biodiversity than any other western Indian Ocean country and is among the top 15 countries hosting the largest area of coral reefs and mangroves in the world. Madagasca...

READ THE STORY

(June 27, 2014) Reef Check is a volunteer program to monitor the health of coral reefs using a rigorous scientific approach but adapted to be used by every volunteer, whether they are informed citizens or from scientific back- grounds. In November 2012, WCS joined a team from Reef Check France during their Reef Check campaign in Mitsio archipelago, NW Madagascar, as part of the Green Campaign funded by Quiksilver Foundation Europe. During this campaign, monitoring stations have been surveye...

READ THE STORY

(June 26, 2014) PCDDBA is a Malagasy association created on 2003. PCDDBA's mission is to "ensure the integ- rity of the biological, ecological, socioeconomic functions of Antongil Bay and promote the sus- tainable development of its surrounding areas through consistent actions and consultations.” WCS nominated PCDDBA for the UNDP Equator Prize in 2012. The Equator Prize recognizes local initiatives that demonstrate leadership in advanc- ing innovative solutions for people, nature and res...

READ THE STORY

(December 11, 2013) The Wildlife Conservation Society, in collabora- tion with Madagascar National Parks, designed and built a welcome center and interpretive cen- ter for the Masoala National Park, including a pa- vilion dedicated to marine conservation, along with a multipurpose classroom. This Environmen- tal Campus will become a key source of infor- mation and interpretive materials as well as serv- ing as a central meeting and training location within the region. Read more: http://www.wcs.org/press/p...

READ THE STORY

(November 19, 2013) To increase marine protected areas (MPA) cover- age in Madagascar (to date, only 0.2% of Mada- gascar’s total marine area is protected through fully gazetted MPAs), the Wildlife Conservation Society has supported since 2010 the creation and management of three new MPAs protecting 463,100 hectares of marine hotspots along Mad- agascar West Coast: Soariake MPA in the South West and Ankarea and Ankivonjy MPAs in the North West. In 2013, WCS Ocean Giants Program Completed a second season o...

READ THE STORY

(July 23, 2013) For the first time, humpback whales in the waters of Madagascar are being tracked via satellite in the quest to learn more about the travels of these marine mammals. During the last week of July and the first week of August, an international research team from CETAMADA (Madagascar), University of Paris (France), Instituto Aqualie (Brazil), and Wild- life Conservation Society (USA and Madagas- car) succeeded in affixing satellite tags to 12 adult whales in the waters of Saint-Marie Island...

READ THE STORY