Important new paper on the impacts of covid-lockdowns on fires in Madagascar's Protected Areas

The number of fires inside protected conservation areas across the island of Madagascar shot up dramatically when COVID-19 lockdowns led to the suspension of much on-site management for five months during 2020.

The findings suggest that on-the-ground management is critical to the success of protected areas in Madagascar. This has implications for the COP15 discussions to happen in China later this year as it shows that more attention must be paid to the management of protected areas, not just expanding their coverage.

The study, published today in Nature Sustainability, is the first to gauge the effects of the pandemic on protected conservation areas. It is co-authored by two members of the Forest4Climate&People team: Julia Jones and Sarobidy Rakotonarivo.

Sarobidy Rakotonarivo says: “When we emphasize the importance of on-site management, we are not talking about top-down, military style management. We are talking about , protected area teams working closely with communities to support local livelihoods and safeguard natural resources.”