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This list of national parks of Madagascar includes all officially recognized protected areas as of 2015. The protected areas network of
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
is managed by the
Madagascar National Parks Association Madagascar National Parks, formerly known as ''l'Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées'' (ANGAP), was founded in 1991 and is charged with managing a network of 46 National Parks, Special Reserves and Integral Nature Reserve ...
(PNM-ANGAP). The network includes three types of protected areas: Strict Nature Reserves (
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
category Ia), National Parks (IUCN category II) and Wildlife Reserves (IUCN category IV). At the 2003 IUCN World Parks Congress in
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, the Malagasy President, Marc Ravalomanana, announced an initiative to more than triple the area under protection from approximately to over (from 3% to 10% of Madagascar's area). This " Durban Vision", as it has been dubbed, involved broadening the definition of protected areas in the country and legislation has been passed to allow the creation of four new categories of protected area: Natural Parks (IUCN category II), Natural Monuments (IUCN category III), Protected Landscapes (IUCN category V), and Natural Resource Reserves (IUCN category VI). As well as allowing these new objectives for protected areas management, the new legislation also provided for entities other than PNM-ANGAP to manage protected areas, such as government ministries, community associations, NGOs and other civil society organizations, and the private sector.


System of Protected Areas

The protection of natural sites in Madagascar was initiated under the French colonial authority in 1927. These original sites were reserved for scientific research and were not open to the public. In 1971, the Malagasy government undertook a project to protect of mangrove forests, the first national effort to protect Madagascar's marine ecosystems. In 1986 the government of Madagascar, with support from the IUCN and the
World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...
, initiated a twelve-year process to review and assess existing protected areas and others requiring protection to create an initial list of Madagascar's conservation priority areas. The ''Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées'' (ANGAP), established in 1990, was the first government agency created with the express purpose of expanding and managing Madagascar's protected areas. The creation of a national park system began in 1991 with the first major national policies for environmental protection and moved through three phases before concluding in 2002 with the establishment of the ''Système des Aires Protégées de Madagascar'' (SAPM). As co-president of this commission, the World Wildlife Fund supports the government of Madagascar in managing the parks while also developing management partnerships with a broader variety of partners, including local communities, civil society and the private sector. In 2003, an additional 92 areas were identified as meriting the status of protected area; some of these have since been accorded an official protected status, while others are pending review. Ensuring the legal status and protection of the complete list of areas added to meet the Durban Vision commitment requires an updating of the law concerning protected areas, which was stalled following the
political crisis Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studie ...
of 2009. On 17 September 2003 at the IUCN World Parks Congress in
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
, President Marc Ravalomanana announced an expansion of Madagascar's protected areas from to over (from 3% to 10% of Madagascar's area) over the next five years. The Malagasy government formed the ''Commission du Système des Aires Protégées de Madagascar'' (Commission for the Protected Areas System of Madagascar, SAPM) to work in partnership with the concerned government ministries (the ''Ministère de l’Environnement, des Eaux et Forêts'' inistry of Environment, Water and Forestsand the ''Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche'' inistry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishery. In March 2005, following a series of intensive collaborations with the IUCN and other international and local experts, the government put in place the current system of classification and legal protection for Madagascar's protected areas.


World Heritage Sites

In 1999 the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park was declared a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
. In 2007 six other national parks were voted in as a joint World Heritage Site under the name Rainforests of the Atsinanana. These six parks are
Marojejy Marojejy National Park () is a national park in the Sava region of northeastern Madagascar. It covers and is centered on the Marojejy Massif, a mountain chain that rises to an elevation of . Access to the area around the massif was restrict ...
,
Masoala ''Masoala'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commo ...
, Ranomafana, Zahamena, Andohahela and Andringitra National Park. UNESCO placed the Rainforests of the Atsinanana on the list of World Heritage in Danger on 30 July 2010 following an increase in illegal logging in the parks since 2009 as a consequence of political crisis in the country.


Protected Areas


Strict Nature Reserves (Réserves Naturelles Intégrales)


National Parks (Parcs Nationaux)


Special Reserves (Réserves Spéciales)


Other protected areas


References

{{Africa in topic, List of national parks of
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
National parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...
National parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...