Community Mobilisation... the answer to fighting fire and protecting lemurs, livelihoods and the littoral forest of Sainte Luce?

By Paul Allen, Programme Officer

Fire poses a significant threat to the remaining fragments of the Sainte Luce Littoral Forest (SLLF). The majority of the Sainte Luce?fokontany?(village) rely on resources from the SLLF for their primary livelihood of lobster fishing, as well as for house construction, and consequently, fire also represents a serious threat to local livelihoods. As part of the Ala (Malagasy for forest) Programme, SEED worked with stakeholders to produce a more cohesive fire management strategy, focusing on community-awareness raising, starting in the 2022 fire season following discussions with the community.?

The?Ala Programme ?aims to improve viable habitat for the three nocturnal species of lemur found in the SLLF through the creation of forest corridors, alternative resource provision, and strengthened local and regional capacity for forest management and fire mitigation. The Ala Programme’s five forest corridors total 3.72 hectares and connect 108 hectares of the SLLF, with over 6,000 native and 4,000?Acacia mangium?seedlings planted since July 2019. As the native saplings are still relatively small, they are more vulnerable to fire, particularly during the dry season. September and October mark the peak fire season in the Anosy region of southeast Madagascar, where the Ala Programme is based, as high winds combine with the end of the dry season. Climate change is exacerbating these factors, with greater aridity already observed across Madagascar and drought occurrence projected to increase with global warming1.?

Tavy,?the clearance of land with fire for agriculture, as well as small split-second decisions, such as throwing away a cigarette, can lead to serious bushfires. For example, in June 2023, a fire was started by people grilling fish, which burned around 3km of forest. This incident placed numerous local livelihoods at risk as the fire burned close to the?Mahampy ?workshop. Thankfully, the fire was extinguished by local forest management organisations in half a day, using fire beaters distributed by SEED.

The Ala Programme’s fire management strategy was initiated in 2022 after discussions with the community. It places a greater emphasis on fire prevention, while simultaneously strengthening fire mitigation activities through large-scale community awareness-raising, capacity building, the ratification of a?dina?(local law), and the distribution of fire beaters. In January 2023, focus groups and surveys revealed that 90% of households had already used the recently distributed fire beaters. While this is a very encouraging statistic for fire mitigation, it is a rather worrying statistic for fire prevention.?

Subsequently, SEED has further expanded our fire prevention activities in 2023, expanding community mass mobilisations and fire beater distribution to two new fokontany’s (Esohihy and Tsiharoa), while doubling the number of mass mobilisations held (from 4 to 8) and the number of community fire agents recruited (from 5 to 10). Community fire agents work closely with the SEED team, engage with stakeholders, arrange fire mitigation and prevention activities, and lead efforts to extinguish fires. Community mass mobilisations aim to raise awareness of fire prevention, gather stakeholders, and provide a forum for community discussion.?

In August 2023, SEED led a community mass mobilisation in Sainte Luce, which approximately 100 community members attended. Participants included the Chef Fokontany (village head), representatives from local forest management organisations, landowners of the Ala corridors, four members of the SEED team, and two volunteers from the?SEED Conservation Research Programme ?(SCRP).?The mass mobilisation began with the Chef Fokontany thanking the speakers and the community for coming. Speakers then took turns to address the community. First off, the?Communautés de Base?(CoBA; forest management association) President emphasised their preference for awareness-raising instead of punishment, and powerfully stated that:

“This generation will have no future if the forest continues to be destroyed.”

A member of?Polisin’ala?(the local forest patrol) echoed this sentiment, stating that it is better to prevent a fire than to use the fire beaters and that showing respect to the forest is the same as showing respect for the community.

SEED then led a fire beater demonstration, where this year it was decided no fire should be lit to set a good example. Following the demonstration, it was time for a musical interlude in the form of the 2022 pop song?Mandrora Mantsilagny ?by Malagasy artist Big MJ, a cover of a 1993 song by?Mily Clément . During this interlude, Babaly, one of the Ala corridor landowners and SCRP guides, danced with representatives from the SEED team to rapturous applause. The song's title roughly translates to 'spitting out' and refers to someone spitting while lying down on their back – this Clément uses as an analogy for traditional tavy?practices, suggesting those who burn the forest only burn themselves.

"It is a forest that is crushed so do not destroy it because it disturbs us"- Mily Clément

The song perfectly encapsulates the messages from the forest management organisations – that respecting the forest is respecting your community and that harm to one also harms the other. The fact that this song is more than 30 years old shows how long?tavy?has been a contentious practice, and environmental concerns have played on the Malagasy collective consciousness.

The Special Advisor to the President of FIMPIA (Forestry Police Association) asked the community to please report fires and their causes to CoBA and FIMPIA, before concluding with the powerful remark:

“WE SHOULD CORRECT OURSELVES, OUR ENVIRONMENT IS IN OURSELVES”

The floor then opened for community members to raise questions regarding fire prevention and mitigation, both with the hosts of the mass mobilisation and each other. The community highlighted that fires have been previously difficult to tackle and pose a major threat to the forest. The challenge of holding people responsible for starting fires and harming the forest was also raised, with this difficulty leading to some feeling apathetic towards the forest. This statement prompted much discussion, during which speakers reiterated the need to report fire incidents and that people should not rely on the actions of others. Rather, they should take care of the forest and the community themselves. The mass mobilisation concluded with a group photo (above) and community fire beater practice (below).

A recent?Forbes article ?asked whether firebreaks can help save Madagascar’s lemurs, detailing the work of Canadian NGO?Planet Madagascar . While firebreaks remain a key part of SEED’s reforestation strategy, they are quite literally the last line of defence. It is hoped that the Ala Programme’s holistic fire management strategy will equip communities with the tools and knowledge to prevent and suppress fires, and as a result will be more likely to save Madagascar’s lemurs than firebreaks alone. Prevention is better than the cure after all - and with a primary message of personal responsibility during the mass mobilisation, a healthy community turnout, impassioned speakers, and a collaborative spirit, there is reason to be optimistic that destructive bushfires can be prevented and lemurs, livelihoods, and the Sainte Luce littoral forest can be protected.

Would you like to know more about The Ala Programme? Head over to our newly updated website page !

References

1. IPCC, 2021. Regional Fact Sheet Africa. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_Africa.pdf