Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre Protected Areas

Our team manages the Itremo Massif Protected Area to benefit local people.

Our main activities look at implementing, surveying, and reporting the conservation and the development activities according to the Itremo Protected Area management plan.   

With financial support from the “Fondation des aires protégées et de la biodiversité de Madagascar” (FAPBM), we work closely with the local people in Itremo in patrolling the area and evaluating threats, such as fire and Pinus, which affect the natural habitats and some native targeted species unique in the site.

For compensation of the restricted access to the natural resource after the protected area creation in 2015, we support the local people in promoting some income generating activities including yams cultivation, agroforestry, and silkworm farming. 

We have expertise and knowledge in managing the Itremo Protected Area and have had two conservation and research projects in place since September 2021.

The Darwin Initiative raise money in Itremo for supporting the forage grasses in the area, improving livestock nutrition and reducing fires to improve the well-being of the local people.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), in consortium with five main partners based in Madagascar, fund another program which mostly focuses on the sustainable management of the Itremo landscape for improving forest conservation and enhancing the livelihoods of local people.

In Itremo, partnership with the local communities and authorities is vital to efficiently manage each program undertaken in the area.

We work closely with them to develop the practical documents that can be used to support the socio-economic development of the area while conserving the Itremo biodiversity, a Protected Landscape in the IUCN Protected Area Category.