Since the adoption of containment measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 in Madagascar, zoos and aquariums have closed due to lack of funding. Currently, the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) cares for thousands of turtles prematurely returned to the wild. In the East African country, the international organisation’s rehabilitation facilities currently have 24,000 turtles, including four endangered species.
The aim of the TSA is to protect these animals from the horrors of poaching. The alliance is supported in its fight by the United States of America. They have just awarded a $150,000 grant (about 586 million Malagasy ariarys) to the TSA through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program (DOI-ITAP). “With this funding, the TSA will be able to continue to combat turtle poaching in Madagascar. The turtles rescued from the poachers’ claws will be taken to the international organisation’s rehabilitation centres where they will be treated. After this stage, the TSA will prepare the turtles to be reintroduced into the wild (safe and carefully selected places),” says John Dunlop, the director of the USAID mission.
The fight against wildlife trafficking
In the island nation, the US government is also funding initiatives to combat wildlife trafficking, including through two USAID projects. One is the USAID Hay Tao project, which aims to strengthen policies to combat wildlife crime, advocate for environmental justice, and fight corruption and wildlife trafficking. The second conservation project is called USAID Mikajy. It empowers local communities, regional civil society organisations and forestry officials to combat illegal logging and wildlife trafficking in two regions of Madagascar, namely Menabe and MaMaBay (Masoala-Makira-Bay d’Antongil). The USAID Hay Tao and USAID Mikajy projects have an overall portfolio of $45 million (nearly 176 billion Malagasy ariarys).
On the island, the USAID is also co-financing the “Sustainable Vanilla for People and Nature (SVPN)“ project launched in May 2020 with McCormick & Company, a company specialising in the production of flavours and spices. The US$3 million project (more than 11.4 billion Malagasy ariarys) aims to improve the livelihoods of 3,000 farmers through the sustainable production of vanilla in the Sava and Analanjirofo regions of Madagascar.
Inès Magoum