While world leaders discussed the future of conservation at the World Conservation Congress, Madagascar was working on putting the care of forests in local hands. In October, Madagascar’s environment and sustainable development ministry presented the Conservation Allies’ 2025 Madagascar Protected Areas Outlook, a report to assess the health and management of the country’s protected areas, which found that locally-managed areas show significantly lower deforestation rates, showing the impact of conservation efforts in Madagascar.

At the same time, Madagascar has signed delegating contracts that grant local organisations like ours the legal right to manage some of the country’s most iconic landscapes.

For us, this moment is deeply personal. It represents seven years of persistence, finally recognised, and the trust from our government formalised. These agreements give communities we work with the long-overdue legitimacy to protect forests, coasts and wildlife that sustain them.

Madagascar is one of the most biologically unique places on Earth—home to more than 80 percent of species that can’t be found anywhere else. Our ecosystems are a global treasure and the foundation of daily life for millions, demonstrating the importance of ongoing conservation efforts in Madagascar.

But this new chapter also unfolds at a time of national transition. Recent protests that toppled Madagascar’s leadership have revealed the public’s hunger for renewal. In such times, local organisations provide stability for both people and nature. We are the bridge between communities and government, the link between science and livelihoods, and often the only institutions still standing when systems falter.

This moment is about resilience, rights, and responsibility—and about what happens when trust and resources finally align.

A New Mandate for Madagascar’s Communities

The new decree marks a major step forward, showing the progress made in conservation efforts in Madagascar. For the first time, local organisations have formal mandates to manage vast protected areas alongside government authorities and the communities that depend on them.

According to the 2025 Outlook by Conservation Allies, Madagascar’s 110 terrestrial protected areas now cover 11.7 percent of the country—around 6.8million hectares—with nearly half under delegated management to Malagasy NGOs and associations. Together, they form one of Africa’s most ambitious community-driven conservation networks.

Read the full article about Madagascar’s conservation efforts by Tiana Andriamanana, Dr. Seheno Andriantsaralaza, Julie Hanta Razafimanahaka, Dr. Hasina Malalaharivony, and Rova Ramaroson at Alliance Magazine.