By renting out fiberglass canoes to locals, Madagascar’s trees survive brutal axing

“One fiber canoe can protect eight big trees,” says Lily-Arison

Lily-Arison Rene de Roland. Photo credit: John C. Mittermeier/National Geographic

Madagascar is known for its distinct and endemic biodiversity, but the Indian Ocean African island has been facing arduous challenges threatening the smooth functioning of its ecosystem. The US International Development agency, USAID, describes the present threats to Madagascar’s rich biodiversity as “widespread and abject poverty, exacerbated by high birthrates and unsustainable land management practices.” The island and its people, who are highly dependent on its natural resources, are forced to engage in destructive environmental activities such as illegal deforestation for fuelwood, charcoal extraction, and canoe making; illegal exportation of precious wood; subsistence agriculture by burning forest areas; overfishing due to growing food insecurity and low income; and poaching, for lemurs especially. The result of these is a loss of 80% of natural areas on the island and an annual loss of 200,000 ha of land, an 80% loss in sportive lemurs, a 31% critical endangerment of all lemur species in Madagascar, and an endangerment of more than 40 current bird species.

In attempting solutions to mitigate the challenges, Lily-Arison Rene de Roland who leads the crew at the Peregrine Fund, Madagascar, seems to have found a working formula to help cut down on the land and species loss, and the deplorable state of human-wildlife cohabitation in the country. For every fiberglass canoe that is provided for a fisherman by Lily and his team, they are able to save eight big trees. Saving these trees translates to ameliorating the breeding season of different bird species, protecting smaller trees which get caught up in the destruction spree, protecting land area, and saving the homes of eagles, lemurs, chameleons, aye-ayes, and civets in the wild.

Lily-Arison is Malagasy born and bred, and has over thirty years of Malagasy conservation experience. He is influential in conservation activities on the island, and that has been made possible by his relationship with the Peregrine Fund, whose Madagascan division he has headed since 2004. Few months ago, he was awarded the National Geographic Conservation Leadership Award in Africa, and has on more than one occasion, discovered lost bird species including the Madagascar pochard and the Dusky tetraka. The Katableps lilyarisoni (Katableps spider) was also named in his honor after a joint effort at discovery. Speaking to The Habibat Project, he gives an interesting backstory on conservation in the country, and more importantly, explains a working “fiberglass approach” to protecting biodiversity in Madagascar – an approach which he insists can only be effective through collaboration with traditional community leaders and adequate sensitization of the locals.

What's your personal background, and how did you find yourself in the conservation field?

Lily: I come from a small village here in Madagascar. I moved into the University in [the] capital [University of Antananarivo] to learn biology – animal biology. At this time, I met the Peregrine Fund project, which decided to support me in [getting] my degrees. So, I received the support of this American project, since I prepared [for] my Master’s and also for my PhD. After I received my PhD, they nominated me as national director of the project.

What was your PhD thesis about, and how has it structured your career so far?

Lily: I studied three species of hawks in Madagascar. Frances's sparrowhawk, Madagascar sparrowhawk, and Goshawk. For the three species of hawks, I did a comparative study on their biology and ecology. So from these studies, I learned a lot on habitat conservation and species conservation, and it gives me more experiences on birds. And I followed…you know Ian Newton?

No, no, I don't.

Lily: Ian Newton is [a] senior ornithologist. I read lots of his publications. So, I put in time [on] what he did, and what I can do here in Madagascar according to the habitat here in Madagascar, so I learn[ed] more about microhabitat behaviors and bird conservation and, also, almost all animal conservation. So, these practice[s] in [the] field are also one of my advantages. I spent a lot of time in [the] field. So, I had the time to learn how exactly to do conservation here in Madagascar. We have worked closely with local communities. I have lots of experiences on community conservation here in Madagascar. I received more training in Africa, like [in] Uganda, Tanzania, [and] Kenya for conservation. And it helped me [with] lots of experiences — what our colleagues in Africa have [also] done. 

What is your conservation story in Madagascar?

Lily: 30 years ago and at the beginning, I was just focused on birds of prey – on raptors, and during this time, two birds of prey endemic to Madagascar were considered as extinct, one is [the] Madagascar serpent eagle and one is [the] Madagascar red owl; both species were considered as extinct. And the project, Peregrine Fund, arrived here in Madagascar to look for robust species. We, with the Peregrine Fund team, discovered the Madagascar red owl, and it also help[ed] us to have technical experiences on how to monitor the raptors. And after, we have continued to learn more on raptors here in Madagascar. And we have worked at [the] West Coast [and] in [the] Northeast of Madagascar. In 2003, our former president wanted to increase [by] three times, the protected areas in Madagascar. At this time, we inside the Peregrine Fund followed up with the government to also create new protected areas. And after we followed the process from the ministry of environment, and in 2015, we created four protected areas – two at the west with dry forest and wetlands, and at the north of Madagascar, and these four protected areas, totaling about 200,000 hectares, have more threatened species of animals like birds, primates, and also reptiles. And also, one specificity of this site is that, at the West Coast, the site belongs to [is controlled by] traditional management. As you see, here in Madagascar, most of [the] areas which are managed by traditional stakeholders before, [are] then followed by many problems, and it makes the degradation very fast.

When you say traditional stakeholders, are you referring to the indigenous owners of the land?

Lily: I [will] give you an example. [The] West Coast is inside a dry forest. Many lakes [are] inside the forest, and the lakes are used by fishermen to catch and sell fish. But [at] the opening of the fishing season, [the fishermen] don’t follow the calendar from [the] fishing ministry, but the traditional leader, [who] decides each year, the time for the opening of [the] fishing season. So, this kind of management is very important. The Peregrine Fund follow[s] this approach to respect this traditional management, to show to all local communities that traditional management is very important to conserve the biodiversity in Madagascar. So, two of the sites at West Coast, which we managed, also have traditional management. We have worked closely with the leaders of the traditional people at [the] West Coast. And at the north…The North is a very important ecosystem as there are rainforests, marshes, savanna, and volcanic lakes.

Can you tell me more about the West Coast and the kind of species over there, and if it is currently threatened by climate change or not?

Lily: It's a dry forest and inside [the] dry forest, there are lakes. In general, [it has] dry forests and wetlands, and at wetlands, there is one critically-[endangered] bird. It is [the] Madagascar fish eagle. We have worked with this critically-[endangered] bird since 1992. Following your question about climate change, as we have worked on the species for more than 50 years now, we observe that climate change happens on this species because [of] the breeding season. Before, the [breeding] season began in May, but since three or four years ago, it comes late for the beginning of the breeding season, this is one point [made about the effect of climate change]. Also, the second point is [that] some nests didn't [have] laid eggs, or if there are eggs, some eggs did not hatch into the nestling. We knew at the time to put camera traps on the nests to see, what exactly is the issue of non-reproduction of these birds? Has the temperature become very high? Or [is it] the factors of food? I hope that in the next two years, we'll have more information on climate change or the other issues on these species.

Is there any other angle from which we can view the effect of climate change on these birds? 

Lily: As I said, we have studied the impact of climate change on these species. In Madagascar, fishing is the best place to learn about climate change. Because we studied [for] almost 51 years on these species, we have a lot of data of the period for [their] breeding season – the quality of their reproduction success, and also [their] quantity of food, and also the quality of lakes. Quality includes the depth of water. Has the depth of water decreased or has the lake changed in quality? And [this investigation is] all in relation [to] climate change. But once [investigation is complete on] the size of the lakes, the quality of the lakes, the quantity of food for the birds, the reproduction success, and the period of reproduction, we can now learn about all of these factors [together] to see [if] the climate change [has] happened on the species or not. So as I said, maybe after three years, we'll have more information on the impact of climate change on Madagascar fishing.

What specific projects are you working on that are timely to Madagascan conservation?

Lily: At the moment, I focus on two points. Firstly, I have supervised lots of students. My feeling is that we need to have more generations to be educated on conservation. So, I support more students to learn about biodiversity and conservation, and I will continue to do this activity. The second is [that] I want to protect the existing forests. As you know, the speed of forest degradation is very fast. To keep the existing forests, there are some programs, not only here in Madagascar, the programs of [the] government to do reforestation. I think it's a good idea, but [for me] the first thing is how to keep the existing forests. So, I have worked mostly with the local communities to sensitize them to keep the existing forests. So, that is two points. It is my big effort to know how to increase the education of the new generation to learn about biodiversity and conservation and also how to keep the habitat…the existing forest left at the moment.

What is that community-based approach that you employ in preserving the remaining forests, and how does it mitigate human-wildlife conflicts in those areas?

Lily: Like at [the] West Coast, we managed wetlands with [a] lot of fish, and this wetland too is the habitat for [the] Madagascar fish eagle. It's a specie [that], as I said, is critically endangered. Some of these species depend on fish for food, and the local communities also need to have more fish to have money for their livelihood [by selling the fishes]. So, what do you do to protect the Madagascar fishing industry [but simultaneously offer] a good life for the local communities – for the fishermen? We need to have [a working] approach on how to do [the] best management for [the] wetland [areas]. So, we have worked with local communities to explain to them the importance of good management of the lakes. For example, the fishermen use wood[en] canoes, and the wood[en] canoes [are] just used for two years, and after two years, they’re broken. They cut big trees to do a wood[en] canoe, and when they cut the big trees, all of the small trees close to the big trees [are] also destroyed, because they didn't follow the [right] techniques [on] how to cut the trees. So after, we looked for financial support to build the fiber canoe [fiberglass canoes]. In my experience, one fiber canoe can be used for 16 years or 20 years. So if we consider it, for 16 years, one fiber canoe can protect eight big trees. If we share [to] them one fiber canoe, we can stop to cut eight big trees. We looked for financial support to give fiber[glass] canoes to fishermen to stop the destruction [of trees] or the tree cutting, and it also make[s] them to save [cut down expenses associated with cutting trees and using wooden canoes]. So we saved more [trees]. We also wrote rules on which period we can [go] fishing and how to sell the fish [for further] production. So, we shared a lot of experiences on how to make their wellbeing [better] and also protect the threatened species [at the same time]. [Through our] approach, we didn't have a conflict between human and wildlife at the moment. And it's like a lesson learned to share to others, what our experiences are on local or community-based conservation here in Madagascar.

Why is the fiberglass canoe successful in protecting biodiversity in Madagascar, and what is the operation behind it? 

Lily: There are societies which build the fiber[glass] canoe here in the capital. I discussed with them [on] how long we can use one fiber[glass] canoe, and they said, at the time, it can be [used for] more than 10 years. When we bought [them for] the first time in 2001, we saw that in 2017, [that] we could [still] use the boat. As we saw [that] from 2001 [to date], that the fiber[glass] canoe can use more years, we looked for financial support to buy more and share to the fishermen. But it's not only to share, we asked them to pay in small amounts. 

When they use [it] during the [fishing] season for example, from June to November, they pay [a] small amount, and at the end of the fishing season, all of the fiber[glass] canoes come back to our camp — [the] research camp. The participation to pay in small amounts [by the fishermen] makes them take care of [the] equipment. We said to them that, next year, we'll pay again…we'll add the participation [contribution by the fishermen] to the new financial support to buy [more fiberglass canoes] again in order to give [to] their colleagues. 

What other similar approaches that are equally instrumental in fighting against this human-wildlife conflict do you adopt? 

It's been [the] same [method we apply] in agricultural activities. On agricultural activities, we gave the agricultural person some seeds. For example, if we give three kilos of beans [seeds] to one person. And at the end of each [farming] production, he can [return] the three kilos; and in this three kilos [of returned beans seeds], we share again to another [group of] people who didn't receive last year. After this, all of the people [living] in the protected areas have seeds to ensure their cultivation, so the production [harvest] is for them. But the seeds we gave him at the beginning, he will give [back] to us to share to another person. In some [other] areas, they are interested in poultry activities, so, we give them trainings on vaccination; we give them equipment like refrigerators to keep the vaccines [safe] and give a training on how to do the vaccination; they receive more [training] activities, and these activities give them [an opportunity] to sell and to have money. It [also] decreases not taking [poaching], for example, lemurs inside a forest as before. I saw [that] local communities took lemurs for food, but after receiving more support and sensitization [on] the importance of biodiversity. It decreased the impact of hunting in protected areas. As you said, [there exists] wildlife and human conflict, but on our side, no, we didn't see the conflict but growth and development.

Corrections/edits applied to text (grammar) on 4 December, 2024.