Sahamalaza Community Based Conservation Madagascar National Parks & COSAP
January 01, 2016
Madagascar National Parks (MNP) organised a meeting with 15 COSAP Bureau members on 13-14 November 2015. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and agree on activities for the coming months.
It was agreed that, since many of the COSAP Bureau members have never seen a dugong, a training session on the physical, biological and ecological characteristics of both dugong and seagrass should be arranged. This session would also include training on methodologies for collecting information on dugong and seagrass and an exchange of known information from the various sites covered by the COSAP network in Sahamalaza-Iles Radama Marine and Costal Biosphere Reserve located, on the north-west coast of Madagascar.
It was also decided that in December 2015, COSAP will raise awareness of inhabitants in two fishing villages where it is known many of the fishermen are immigrants from other regions of Madagascar.
The plan is to complete questionnaires on the known status of seagrass and dugong in their fishing area, to establish a local convention (dina) on safe methods and areas for fishing, and to set up a conservation community to monitor and implement the dina and collect information on dugong and seagrass in their fishing areas.
COSAP is a stakeholder platform structure of 20 community-based environmental associations (300 members in total) located in the Sahamalaza-Iles Radama Marine and Costal Biosphere Reserve located on the north-west coast of Madagascar.
MNP is an NGO mandated by the Madagascar Government to establish and manage protected areas in Madagascar, including the Sahamalaza Biosphere Reserve