Classified as edaphic climax forest, the mangroves of Madagascar represent 2% of the area of mangroves worldwide (Jones et al., 2016), of which 98% of its coverage is located on the west coasts of the island, with a high concentration in the landscape of the Delta Manambolo Tsiribihina of Morondava, in the bay of Mahajamba, in the bays of the North-West part (Ambaro, Ambanja, Tsimipaika, Ampasindava, Russe) and in the Bay of Assassins in Andavadoaka (South-West).

This ecosystem plays, in the livelihoods of many coastal communities in Madagascar, a role in the production of wood and non-timber forest products (honey, wild silk, pharmacopoeia, etc.), a habitat and nursery role for various marine resources such as shrimps and crabs, a role of protection against erosion and climatic hazards, and a role of regulation of different biogeochemical and climatic cycles.

In addition to their direct benefits, mangrove forests play an important role in regulating the global climate. They store on average some 1,000 tons of carbon per hectare in their biomass and the underlying soil, which places them among the most carbon-rich ecosystems on the planet, therefore ensuring the mitigation of climate change They also ensure other important ecological functions several functions, such as the protection of human goods and properties in coastal cyclone zones and the purification of water.

However, despite their importance, the mangroves of Madagascar are highly threatened and are constantly shrinking in terms of area through the conversion of land into agricultural plots, massive logging and charcoal production (Giri & Muhlhausen, 2008; Jones et al., 2016), although there are considerable geographic variations in socio-ecological dynamics. Like tropical forests, mangrove forests are not spared from the constant decline in area in Madagascar, as everywhere in the world. Mangroves are extremely rich, encompassing a range of human activities including traditional subsistence fishing, market-oriented timber and fuel extraction, and modern shrimp farming.

In Madagascar, the interference of the mangrove wood market for various purposes is destroying it and risks its future disappearance without adequate management. The natural resources associated with mangroves cause some clashes that arise between conservation and exploitation interests.

The PES mechanism, being a sustainable financing mechanism and an incentive instrument for the conservation of nature, then appears as a remedy in the face of these shortcomings by making the preservation of the environment a profitable activity. A PES mechanism would also make it possible to mobilize financial resources by calling on the payment of actors who benefit from Ecological Services. It establishes a contractual relationship between economic agents agreeing to pay for practices that guarantee the maintenance or restoration of the ES.

This project will make significant contributions to several international commitments as well as national strategies, including:

• To activities in the Boeny region
• To the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (2015 – 2020)
• The goals of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework “Take urgent action across society to put biodiversity on the path to recovery for the benefit of the planet and people
• The National Action Plan to combat desertification and land degradation, including through the Land Degradation Neutrality program in which Madagascar is committed at the international level, in order to guarantee the restoration and the conversion of forests to other types of vegetation cover by 2030;
• Madagascar Emergence Plan (PEM): Program 10.1-Sustainable Management of Natural Resources, Landscapes and Intensive Reforestation;
• The ten-year strategic vision of the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD) to preserve and sustainably manage natural resources and carry out useful and intelligent reforestation;
• To the National Policy, Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (PNLCC, NAPA, CDN): reducing deforestation in mangrove forests

Brief description of the project:

The project will develop a sustainable financing mechanism at the local level, in this case the Mangrove PES (Mangrove carbon PES) being a tool for the sustainable management of natural resources, based on the maintenance and enhancement of ecological services. The financing is done by the transaction between the providers of ecological services accepting the change of practices unfavorable to this maintenance and the promotion of practices conducive to the safeguarding of the mangrove forests and the beneficiaries remunerating the commitment aimed at this maintenance of these ecological services. It is also done through Mangrove's carbon credit.
It also contributes to the promotion of alternatives such as green and blue employment and income-generating activities of ecological service providers.
Finally, the promotion of environmental certification is one of the concerns of this project to encourage local actors, in particular suppliers and beneficiaries of ecological services, to adhere to all the processes.

After the oceans, soils are the second-largest carbon sink. They hold more carbon than the world’s forests and the atmosphere combined. Sustainable land management has huge potential to contribute to climate protection, adaptation as well as food security. It can limit GHG emissions through sequestration of carbon in soils and through the avoidance of carbon losses caused by soil degradation. Improved soil health also reflects in soil properties e.g. water holding capacity that reduce the adverse impacts of climate change on agricultural production. This potential has been widely recognized i.e. in the 2019 IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land.

From July 4 to July 2021, a preliminary study relating to the implementation of the soil PSE mechanism was carried out by the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development with the GIZ Prosol project. The result of this is the obtaining of the agreement of the regional authority for the realization of the project and the identification of the potential sites of the project. The feasibility study and the establishment of a mechanism consisting in the following steps.

Project objective

The overall objective of the project is to improve and maintain the functions and ecological services provided by mangrove forests et soil for human well-being. It also strives to develop alternatives through its contribution to the promotion of green and blue employment and IGAs; and to promote the environmental certification of products that comply with environmental standards. The approach of this project will be anchored in the inclusive participation of all key actors beyond their boundaries to better ensure biophysic and biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. It also highlights the active participation of women and young people by building their capacity throughout the process.

Anticipated results

• PES as a sustainable financing mechanism is developed
• Practices unfavorable to the sustainable management of Mangroves are reduced or even abandoned and those that are conducive to the maintenance of ecological functions and services are promoted
• Ecological services provided by the mangrove ecosystem are improved and maintained
• Alternatives like green and blue jobs are promoted.
• Environmental certification is promoted

Expected benefits

• 100,000 ha of degraded mangrove forests are restored in the three regions and can maintain their ecological functions and services
• 50,000 households adopt new practices favorable to the sustainable management and conservation of mangroves
• 100 people (women/men, young people, other vulnerable groups) have seen their livelihoods improved thanks to the project.
• 50 environmental certificates issued

Project components

1. The first component consists of feasibility studies for the establishment of the PES mechanism.
2. The second component consists in implementing the PES mechanism (the implementation of the governance structure and the monitoring-evaluation of the activities undertaken.)
3. The third component strives to contribute to the promotion of alternatives, especially green and blue employment as well as other income-generating activities
4. The third component focuses on the promotion of soil carbon credit, environmental certification of products respecting environmental standards in the process of production, marketing and consumption of products.

Potential risks addressed by project

• Political instability – address through a focus on grassroots communities and establishment of traditional social norms for sustainable mangrove management
• Social insecurity – empowerment of local actors in solving problems of insecurity using the forms of traditional social norms
• Inability to manage population movements – creation in the Communal Development Plans of reception areas for newcomers
• Political will to manage pressures and threats to mangroves – further focus on communities and establishment of traditional social norms
• Unethical economic operators (timber, maize production) – proactive engagement with them and their customers, use of the press to denounce bad practices and markets, and appeal to law enforcement
• Lack of transparency – good governance and fight against corruption

Main partners opportunities

• MEDD and DREDDs in the Boeny Region
• NGOs working in the conservation of mangroves and Soil carbon, foundations working in the field of conservation and sustainable management of natural resources

Status of discussions with partners and donors

• Discussions with other donors for co-financing