MADAGASCAR - The Menabe Antimena protected area, one of the largest blocks of dry forest in Madagascar, is home to high levels of biodiversity, with many of its threatened and endangered species found nowhere else in the world. It loses approximately 4% of its area each year due to deforestation and pressures from increased migration and cash crop farming. World Wildlife Fund estimates the whole protected area will disappear by 2050.

As the Menabe region struggles with high rates of deforestation, it also faces an increasing number of wildfires, and the dry and fragile ecosystems within its protected areas are at substantial risk. During the week of July 12th, a team of USDA Forest Service fire specialists led a hybrid virtual and in-person basic wildland firefighting training course for partners in the Menabe region. Several Forest Service partners in the region expressed interest in receiving basic firefighting and management training, hoping to mitigate the risks wildland fire poses to both people and wildlife. This recent “training of trainers” workshop instructed 18 persons from organizations including: the Madagascar Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Regional Directorate of Environment and Sustainable Development, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Madagascar National Parks, Association Voary, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, Fanamby, FIVE Menabe and the Regional Forestry Training Center. 

Upon completion of the course, many of the trainees will serve as co-trainers on subsequent courses in order to train colleagues and community fire brigades, thereby increasing the number of trained persons able to respond to managing the growing fire challenges in Menabe and eventually other regions of Madagascar. This effort is part of ongoing support from the USDA Forest Service International Programs office on fire management, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and in collaboration with Malagasy partners.