OVERVIEW Madagascar ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna

Madagascar well before this date. The history of international wildlife trade management in Madagascar can be divided into four phases: ▪ A phase which preceded the ratification of the Convention and consisted in local management centred mostly on fauna (1960-1975); ▪ The second, start-up phase, after the ratification of the Convention, during which CITES regulations were poorly understood and only partially applied (1975-1990); ▪ A phase greatly influenced by the new environmental policy (1990-2002); ▪ The last phase, during which the Malagasy authorities took the initiative to implement CITES with adequate management tools (2003- until now). Although legislative and regulatory texts existed throughout these different phases, the extent to which their application was in line with the objectives set by CITES should be brought into question. A national wildlife trade policy review is extremely appropriate for this purpose; hence Madagascar‟s decision to participate in the UNEP/CITES initiative. The findings of this project concern the general context of the national policy, its content an