Human Dimensions of Madagascar's Marine Protected Areas

We conducted a socio-economic assessment in thirteen communities within or adjacent to Madagascar's Marine Protected Areas (MPAs); Nosy Atafana MPA in the Mananara Nord biosphere reserve; Tampolo, Tanjona, and Masoala MPAs in the Masoala National Park, and the recently designated Sahamalaza MPA. Socio-economic information was gathered using several techniques, including household surveys, resource user key informant interviews, community leader key informant interviews, and oral histories. Communities varied considerably in regards to their dependence on marine resources. Communities in the Masoala and Tanjona marine parks had a relatively high dependence on fishing and gleaning (particularly for octopus and sea cucumber). Communities in Sahamalaza had moderate dependence on marine resources and Sahasoa, near Nosy Atafana, had a relatively low dependence. We found that fishing effort in several of our study sites was comparable to moderately exploited sites in Kenya (Cinner and McClanahan, 2006). However, it will be necessary to examine fishing effort relative to the size of fishing ground to have a better overall impression of fishing pressure across the study sites. Strategies to improve management in Madagascar's marine parks may include: (1) presenting consistent and transparent socioeconomic and ecological monitoring to communities to clearly demonstrate the effects of conservation on community livelihoods; (2) forming cross-scale linkages between national, provincial, and local governance institutions to promote resilience to social and ecological disturbances