When the MFG began working in Madagascar the President was Didier Ratsiraka who, first elected in 1975, focused his efforts at centralizing government power and limiting political opposition. Years of dissatisfaction with the country's economic status led to a general strike in 1991and forced changes in the government, the adoption of a revised constitution and new elections.  Madagascar's economy suffered a set-back and even after Albert Zafy was elected over Ratsiraka in 1992, the economic stagnation continued through 1996 when Zafy was impeached.  The 1997 elections returned Ratsiraka to power and although foreign investments contributed to five years of over all economic growth, Madagascar's government was fraught with corruption and the majority of its people were unable to rise above' poverty levels. In 2002, Marc Ravalomanana won the Presidential election over Ratsiraka but the latter's refusal to accept the election results led to a six-month political crisis, a dysfunctional government and falling economy. Originally from Tamatave, Ratsiraka retained support from many people in the region and as a consequence his backers erected road blockades and exploded bridges to keep the military, under Ravalomanana's control, out of Tamatave.  It was a very difficult time for the country and for the then MFG Program Managers Andrea Katz and Charlie Welch

When Ravalomanana was finally recognized as Madagascar's President he implemented multiple initiatives to grow the country's economy, improve its infrastructure, decrease poverty and increase protection for its biodiversity. Analysts credited Ravalomanana with improving the economy especially through attractingg foreign investors and, still popular he was reelected in 2006.  However the improving the economy especially through attracting foreign investors and, still popular he was reelected in 2006.  However, the improved economy still left many Malagasy steeped in poverty and this played a large factor in Antananarivo's Mayor Andry Rajoelina's ability to organize demonstrations against the Ravalomanana and his policies. The January 2009 riots, the worst seen in the country's history, led to a coup which ousted Ravalamanana and left Rajoelina as the self-proclaimed President. In May leaders of Madagascar's four primary political groups attended an internationally brokered meeting where they agreed to form an interim power-sharing government for the next 12-15 months until elections could be held.  As of January 2011 there has been no resolution to the holding elections.

Lack of governance has significantly worsened the lives of those already living in poverty and has caused an alarming assault on the environment.  The withdrawal of international support following the coup has weakened environmental governance and created perfect conditions for criminals to profit from large-scale illegal logging of threatened hardwoods, especially rosewood and ebony.  Rosewood is worth $5,000.00 and ebony $15,000.00 per cubic meter. Bushmeat is on the rise; lemur traps have proliferated in protected forests and some species such as the silky sifaka face serious population declines from which they may not be able to recover.  In Betampona too the MFG's Conservation Agents found evidence of logging and lemur traps, conditions which forced them to transfer time devoted to research over to patrolling and protecting the forest. International and local conservation NGO's have drawn attention to the seriousness of the environmental damage, requesting that world leaders support the interim government's capacity to protect its natural resources. 

Madagascar's Environmental Action Plans

Madagascar was among the first African nations to create a protected park system; the first African park was established in 1925 (Virunga) while Madagascar's first park Betampona was designated a Strict Nature Reserve in 1927.  Madagascar was the first African country to implement a National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP). The NEAP was designed as a three-phase process which included designating new protected sites, utilizing sustainable resource management approaches, initiating development projects to reduce the country's high rates of poverty and in Phase 3 to decentralize environmental management at a regional level. 

At the 2003 World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa, Madagascar's President Ravalomanana announced a commitment to triple the current protected area network in five years and thereby protect 10% of the island's total surface area.  Several years later and before NEAP Phase 3 was completed, the Ravalomanana formulated a new five-year plan named the Madagascar Action Plan (MAP), intended to better coordinate and accelerate the country's development process.  Ensuring environmental stability was one of the eight broad development goals included in the plan which covered the years 2007-2012.  However, the 2009 presidential coup, subsequent suspension of international funding for conservation and the emergence of independent and organized groups plunder the island's natural resources for profit has set the country back.  The worst action conservation NGO's could take at this critical time is to withdraw their support.  The MFG remained in Madagascar and, although it caused additional organizational challenges, continued to run its programs.

The Early History of the MFG

 Prior to the formation of the MFG, zoos typically worked as individual institutions that were developing various and diverse relationships within the complex structure of Madagascar's governing authorities.  Because a lack of coordination could result in even the best zoos' initiatives working at cross-purposes, a meeting organized by the IUCN Primate Specialist Group and the the New York Zoological Society brought together Malagasy  government officials, international zoo professionals and field scientists was held at St. Catherine's Island in 1987.  It was here that the concept of a zoo consortium was born. MFG members would contribute to species conservation efforts within Madagascar and insure that only well-justified requests to export individual animals designated for regionally managed captive breeding programs would occur.

The MFG was founded on the basic principle that uniting zoos under one umbrella significantly increases the contribution any one institution can make on its own.  The MFG's strength is derived from collaboratively pooling limited resources to enact a conservation program that is managed by in-country staff within the framework of local needs, policies and politics.  The MFG's approach has always been collaborative and guided by the environmental objectives identified and prioritized by the Government of Madagascar (GOM).  Initially working through a Protocol of Collaboration with the GOM, the MFG now carries out its work through an Accord de Siege from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the beginning, the MFG's work was primarily focused on building the capacity of Madagascar's two zoos, Parc Botanique and Zoologique Tsimbazaza and Parc Zoologique Ivoloina. The MFG funded and stationed Technical Advisors at PBZT in Antananarivo weich was governed by the Ministry and at PZI in Tamatave which was governed by the Department of Eau et Foret.  The MFG provided training in all aspects of zoo management including administrative and policy issues, facility design and maintenance, staff training and animal care. With other organizations assisting PBZT, the MFG discontinued staffing a technical advisor  at the zoo in 1999 in order to focus its efforts on the Ivoloina Zoo.  

 The MFG had been invited to help renovate and improve their small zoo after it was destroyed by a cyclone in 1986.  Andrea Katz and Charlie Welch, MFG's first program managers,  oversaw the renovation and opened the new zoo in 1990. Over the ensuing years, the MFG helped the zoo grow both structurally and programmatically. The Zoo's education initiatives began with classes and tours centered on the animal collection but gradually expanded into an environmental education program serving children, teachers and visitors. In 1995, the Environmental Education Center the Zoo's first cyclone-proof classrooms was built. A year later the "Saturday School" program was initiated and specifically designed to provide rural children with supplementary lessons in three core subjects with the goal of enabling these primary grade school children to pass their national exams and continue their schooling.  An early evaluation of the program showed that the average pass rate into secondary school for the participants was 78% as compared to 5% for non-participants.  The MFG also worked with local teachers through the development of a series of Teacher Training Workshops which led to the development of a 65-page manual in Malagasy and French titled ?A Practical Guide for the Teacher: the Application of Environmental Education in Primary School Instruction?. A near final draft was piloted and evaluated in eight schools and, following further refinements, the Guide was validated by Madagascar's Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in May 2001.

In February 2004, the MFG was awarded a renewable 25-year Ivoloina Management Contract signed by representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, Water and Forests and the Inter-Regional-Tamatave office of the Environment, Water and Forests.  The contract gave the MFG full management authority and responsibility for all aspects of the Parc which was recorded as encompassing 332 hectares (820 acres). In July 2004 the MFG's authority to manage the Parc was further strengthened when the land title was placed in the MFG's name.  Although the land is still owned by the government the MFG was given full rights as the land tenant, a move that affords the Parc a greater level of protection from being turned over to developers or mining companies.  After 15 years, Andrea and Charlie returned to the United States but have remained intimately involved with the MFG as invaluable Advisors.

In 2004 Karen Freeman, Ph.D. and Gareth Kett were selected to replace Andrea and Charlie.  Together they built on the already strong foundation of trust and collaboration the MFG enjoyed in Toamasina by significantly expanding the conservation education

and capacity building efforts through the development of sustainable agriculture  programs focused on adults. Model agroforestry demonstration plots and tree nurseries were developed to present new farming concepts and techniques to villagers, farmers, politicians and other visitors.  Following meetings with Tamatave's political and university leaders, the MFG built Ivoloina's Conservation and Research Training Center to increase the regions natural resource management training opportunities.  The ICTC was a direct response to Madagascar's National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) which prioritized capacity building at the local, regional and national level. In 2006 the MFG signed a Protocol of Collaboration with the University of Tamatave's College of Natural Resource Management (GRENE), led by Dr. Eustache Miasa (left in photo) which gave their students priority access the ICTC's resources. Dr. Christof den Biggelaar,(right in photo) a specialist in tropical agroforestry at Appalachian State University, N.C., spent a six month sabbatical with the MFG which included assisting GRENE in the development of an ecoagriculture curriculum and research program.  This initiative led to a Protocol of Collaboration between the two  universities.

The early 1990's marked the beginning of the MFG's involvement in Betampona Natural Reserve.  Although Madagascar's first protected reserve when established in 1927, research documenting the biodiversity within the 2,228 hectares of lowland rainforest was limited. Partnering with ANGAP, the MFG's initial surveys focused on the occurrence and distribution of lemur species; work which led to the Varecia variegata restocking program. From November 1997 to January 2001 a total of 13 captive born ruffed lemurs were released into the Reserve to increase gene diversity within the small existing population and evaluate the feasibility of lemur reintroductions as a conservation tool. The release project became the springboard for the MFG's broader research partnership with ANGAP which aims to obtain a comprehensive picture of the number and diversity of species found in the Reserve, obtain genetic and demographic profiles of select taxa, unravel ecological relationships of key animal and plant species and identify the environmental and anthropogenic pressures impacting the viability of Betampona's endangered species. The MFG's work in Betampona is directed at conducting applied research that aids Madagascar National Parks managing officials with data to implement and evaluate an informed conservation plan for one of its few remaining fragments of lowland rain forest.