Malagasy government stepping up the conservation of the Rainforests of the Atsinanana

On 7 December 2015, during the COP 21, the Malagasy Minister of the Environment, Ecology, the Sea and the Forests, Ralava Beboarimisa, met with Edmond Moukala, Chief of the Africa Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, to discuss progress made in implementing recommendations from the World Heritage Committee regarding the conservation of the Rainforests of the Atsinanana.

The Minister notified the World Heritage Centre of the Malagasy national assembly’s upcoming examination, on 17 December 2015, of a law governing the management of rosewood logging and the progress undertaken in the implementation of CITES recommendations. The report on the state of conservation of the site will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre by late January 2016.

A meeting with Barijaona Ramaholimihaso, the Chair of the board of the Madagascar Biodiversity Fund, and Gerard Rambeloarisoa, Executive Director of the fund, took place earlier in the day and served as an opportunity to broach issues related to capacity building of African institutions as well as the strategy for mobilizing funds for the management of World Heritage in Madagascar.