On June 12, 2024 JRS Executive Director Matthew Cassetta was honored to join representatives from Malagasy ministries and environmental organizations in Antananarivo for a launch event and workshop to engage key stakeholders for the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust‘s Madagascar Wetlands Knowledge Database.  The Director of Madagascar’s Protected Areas, Mr. Jean Herve Bakarizafy offered words of encouragement to the group and formally opened the workshop session.

Project goals and activities were discussed to elicit active participation and to refine the parameters of the project, which aims to establish a national data and biodiversity information infrastructure for managers and stakeholders of the country’s 21 Ramsar sites. Project priorities will focus on making wetlands data freely accessible, monitoring change and management across sites, addressing data gaps and ensuring wetland values are considered across multiple development sectors.  Attendees contributed to brainstorming sessions to determine the types of data that will be most useful and how to simplify access and presentation of the information across sectors.  The project is set to formalize a coordinating committee to regularly hold technical meetings as well as regular stakeholder sessions for information exchange and project review.

Learn more about the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust project Madagascar Wetlands Knowledge Base here.