IMPACT Madagascar

IMPACT Madagascar: IMPlementing ACTions for sustainable environmental change in Madagascar through local community-led conservation initiatives. IMPACT Madagascar, a Malagasy NGO, was born from the idea that it is not possible to protect the environment without also including the people who depend on its resources on a daily basis. Since its foundation in 2014, IMPACT has been working with the people of Madagascar to alleviate poverty and provide achievable and sustainable solutions to deforestation and pollution through a variety of projects focusing on community health and development, biodiversity conservation, and environmental outreach. Our small team of staff and specialist volunteers work alongside local people, sharing their expertise in ecology, sustainability, education, and development. We also ensure that local community members are involved in all stages of our conservation projects, taking part in training and capacity building workshops, becoming members of community-led conservation associations, and more. Our programs target the country’s most threatened species and habitats. The majority of our projects take place in the dry and gallery forests of western and northwestern Madagascar, in the Betsiboka, Boeny, Menabe, and Bongolava regions. Despite the fact that dry forests have historically been more severely impacted by deforestation, much of the research conducted on the island has been primarily focused on rainforests. These habitats contain many endangered and critically endangered species which makes their protection all the more imperative. Our goal is to protect and conserve Madagascar’s unique biodiversity while improving the lives of its people. We wish to implement permanent change through collaboration with local communities, creating a foundation on which we can build a better world.