Old egg on flamingo's nests.

After establishing African IBA conservation strategy and Malagasy IBA prioritising (Zicoma 1999), many IBA remain unprotected and are not monitored because of limited funding and capacity to address such issues. These unprotected African IBAs hold greatest number of globally threatened bird, urgent conservation such as effective monitoring with local capacity building is needed for evaluating their changes and updating their databases (www.birdlife.org). Study sites are included in top highest priority unprotected Africa IBAs, holding greatest number of globally threatened bird and needing urgent conservation attention Lake Mandrozo of Tambohorano is Ramsar site.

Ardea humbloti.

Overall goal of this proposed project is to set up fist step for building capacity on permanent conservation actions and long-term monitoring programme in collaboration with skilled local people and stockholders for all IBA identified. These four Malagasy unprotected IBAs, which are targeted as study sites for this project, hold greatest number of globally threatened bird, urgent conservation such as effective monitoring with local capacity building is needed for evaluating their changes and raising awareness on their conservation. Monitoring will include evaluation of change in bird state, threats and ongoing conservation project using distance sampling, inquiries of local people and observation. IBA changes will be known from comparison with Zicoma 1999. Local people will be trained on monitoring skill and BirdLife strategy. Project’s outputs will be distributed to the partners for raising their attention on conservation of such sites.

I propose to:

- Record the actual status on the water bird population, threat and ongoing conservation effort in four target priorities unprotected IBAs of Madagascar (Tsiribihina delta and Upper Tsiribihina river, Tambohorano wetlands, Bemamba wetland complex, Bombetoka bay and Marovoay wetlands)

- Build capacity of local people around the target wetland IBA on monitoring skill and BirdLife strategy plan (conservation programme and policies)

- Outline the changes on the water bird population, threat and ongoing conservation effort at four target IBAs.

- Inform these changes for updating data of partners (BirdLife, Peregrine Fund, Durell Wildlife, Ramsar, Wetland International, AEWA and others).

As outcomes of project:

1. Report about actual and changes on bird states, threat and on-going conservation and research

2. Trained local people being aware on IBA monitoring and BirdLife policies

3. Further monitoring programmes and new initiatives will be raised at villages of trained local people after this project.