SUSTAINABLE TOURISM, THE OTHER POSSIBLE TOURISM

Given our commitment to ensure that tourism offers advantages to the local population and contributes to the preservation of biodiversity in Madagascar, we present to you some remarkable initiatives which can enrich the travelers’ experience.  Not only the organizations are included there but this part also provides information on the community, based on attractions and tourist services.  The principal criterion for inclusion is that each entry should be directly related to the products or the services offered by communities.  The objective is to market the local efforts which can bring an unforgettable savor to your travel... 

-          NY TANINTSIKA 

35 kilometers from Ambositra, this ecotourism project was initiated by the Ngo carrying the same name and the Feedback Ngo.  Visits include that of the tapia forest, a small tree the leaves of which are eaten by the caterpillars producing the raw material of the “landibe” (or wild silk), which is produced in Madagascar only.  The forest is managed by the local community and provides the raw material to the famous lady weavers of Soatanana, which is also included as a site to be visited.  Wild silk was used in the old days exclusively for the weaving of shrouds, but is nowadays used for fancy clothing and household decoration.   The weavers belong to two co-ops and transfer a share of their benefits to the maintenance of access roads.

Contact :                        Ny Tanintsika Ngo

                          Tel.: 020 22 638 11

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                          www.feedbackmadagascar.org

-          AMBOHIMAHAMASINA 

39 kilometers East of Ambalavao, Ambohimahamasina boasts large forests and mystical mountains.  Communities have opened up to solidarity ecotourism since 2005 and established a management and protection committee including members of the local community (locally called VOI).  Tourists stay as paying guests, share daily lives, meals and participate in activities such as basket weaving, ironworks or weaving.  Possible visits include Angavoa, which offers breath-taking view on the forest corridor, but also Itaolana, Ambohitrampanefy, Ambohitravo, and most important the Ambondrombe mountain, where the souls of the deceased rest, according to the local belief.  One day at Ambohimahamasina provides a rewarding feeling of having contributed to the improvement of the local population’s livelihood through accepting board and lodging from them, guided visits or by buying handicraft products.

Contact :          ORT Fianarantsoa

LOCAL GIFT  Immeuble  VOIRIE  Anjoma - 301 Fianarantsoa

Tel. : 034 36 866 56 / 020 75 904 67

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-          AMBILA LEMAITSO 

The famous Malagasy homeopathy company Homeopharma has an establishment in this village located 20 kilometers from Brickaville and has much to offer to revive the place.  Its Ressources and Health Centre welcomes visitors in a holiday setting alternating forest, sea and the Pangalanes Channel.  Bungalows aligned along the sea shore are equipped with blankets, cooking utensils and domestic electrical appliances. All Homeopharma products such as essential oils, phototherapy, cosmetics and massage oils are available; a range of sunscreen products and insect repellent are also at the tourist’s disposal.  The laterite and sand trail linking Brickaville to Ambila Lemaitso might discourage a few people; for others, it is an adventurous path providing a wealth of sensations, not all of which are unpleasant…

Contact :         Homéopharma

                       Lot II M 85 C Antsakaviro, 101 Antananarivo          

                                    Tel.: 020 22 269 34

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                       www.madagascar-homeopharma.com

-          ANJOZOROBE and the SAHA FOREST CAMP 

Anjozorobe stands 2 hours away by car from Antananarivo and is located within a corridor, one of the last primary forests on the Highlands.  The environmental Ngo Fanamby has turned this area into one of its priority action sites.  The Saha Forest Camp consists of 10 double tented lodges, each with a terrace overlooking the green landscape.  The camp is the starting point of superb hikes (each based on a theme), for the discovery of exceptional fauna and flora.   A community association regroups the local population, which directly benefits from employment within the camp and from advantages such as an increase in their agricultural production or the purchase of agricultural inputs. An annual rent, representing a percentage of the turnover, as well as the camp’s annual gross operating margin are invested in an endowment and used for funding various general activities.  The Sahanala label was created to promote the link between ecotourism and local agriculture.  Labeled products include the Ravintsara, ginger and red rice.

Contact :          Fanamby  Ngo

                        Lot II K 39 bis Ankadivato, 101 Antananarivo

                        BP 8434

                        Tel. : 020 22 636 61 ou 032 04 557 22

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                        www.fanamby.mg

-            IARINTSENA AND THE PROMOTION OF RURAL TOURISM

Iarintsena, located West of the Ambalavao region benefited from a joint initiative by the Fekritama and Agriterra Ngos to promote the agrotourism heritage and ultimately to improve farmers’ livelihood sustainably.  The project plans to make 15 farmers’ households  comply to tourism norms, as well as to provide training  in cooking and guiding.  Impacts of the project include the establishment of environmental protection and artisans’ associations, the creation of private tourism sites and some increase in local revenues.  Farmers themselves initiated the establishment of a botanical garden, to show the endemic and medicinal plants of the region to tourists.

Contact :          MATOR Coordinator

                        Lot IV M 7 Ambodivona, 101 Antananarivo

                        Tel.:     020 22 658 67 ou 033 09 435 87 ou 033 06 648 99

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                        www.madagascar-ecotourism.org

-          VOHIMANA  and VOHIBOLA 

For best access to these forests of the eastern coast, reach the shores of the Ampitabe Lake on the Pangalanes Channel, via Manambato.  This is where the Ngo L’homme et L’environnement focuses its activities on ecotourism.  It ensures the conservation and the enhancement of the sites by creating direct employment, especially in terms of guides.  Here, tourism is participatory in all meanings of the word; the luxurious vegetation “kingdom” facilitates direct interaction with the Channel’s surrounding populations.  Attractions include live watching of essential oils’ production, from the collection of leaves to distillation.  One can also get acquainted with the use of plants by traditional healers…

Contact :          L’Homme et l’Environment Ngo

                        Lot II M 90 Antsakaviro

                        Tel: 020 22 674 90

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                        www.madagascar-environnement.com

-          MAROFANDILIA and the FIVOARANTSAINA ASSOCIATION

At the heart of the conservation site of Menabe Antimena stand the village of Marofandilia, 20 kilometers away from the famous Alley of Baobabs.  The villagers have created their own association, representing some thirty households.  Their activities include the maintenance of a tree nursery, reforestation and awareness-raising of other villages on the negative impacts of logging and trafficking of animals and other forest resources, and on the financial benefits provided by handicraft production to household economy.  They opened a community shop to display their sculptures made out of dead wood exclusively and ranging from the reproduction of funerary beams to ashtrays and candle holders shaped according to the fauna of the region.  Benefits are shared between the association’s till, the commissioning of guides and the payment of taxes, but the largest share goes to the sculptors. 

Contact :          Fivoarantsaina Association

                        c/o Fanamby Ngo

                        Lot II K 39 bis Ankadivato, 101 Antananarivo

                        BP 8434

                        Tel. : +261 20 22 636 61 ou +261 32 04 557 22

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                        www.fanamby.mg

-          FORT DAUPHIN 

60 kilometers West of Fort Dauphin, the Japanese Ngo “La Croix Du Sud” has been combining environmental protection with improvement of local livelihoods since the 90s.  It sets out to fight against slash-and-burn farming used in the context of frantic charcoal production and the creation of ephemeral pastoral land.  Yet, this region boasts a wealth of Xerophytes and an endemism rate going up to 90%.  Each village has its own forest protection co-op.  The sculptures sold by villagers to tourists are now made out of fallen trees exclusively.  Eight 30-cm statues, earn them the same amount they used to earn with thirty 25-kg charcoal bags! Two primary schools were built thanks to Croix Du Sud and its partners.  They became state schools in 2005.

Contact :          Croix du Sud Ngo

                        BP 141 Fort Dauphin 614

Tel : 033 12 531 27

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-          ANTALAHA’S GREEN SCHOOL

Jules Village and its wood, bamboo or ravinala huts, 7 kilometers from Antalaha is a pleasant and happy hamlet.  This is where the Assistance to Lepers Committee of Antalaha (CALA) opened a Green School in 2008, with 25 students initially.  One of the objectives was to provide a job to teenagers excluded from the school system, fight deforestation and propagate alternative cultivation practices.  The school had a leverage effect in the region and inspired new initiatives in favor of environmental protection.  A neighboring hill called Macolline constitutes CALA’s activity ground and provides seeds to its tree nurseries.  It is also a biotope reserve planted with endemic trees and sheltering a large variety of fauna species.  CALA has also created a Handicraft Centre specializing in the weaving and production of seed-based items.  Tourists in the SAVA region often include these sites in their agenda.

Contact :          CALA Association

                        BP 134, 206 Antalaha

                        Tel. : +261 32 07 161 01

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                        www.calamada.org

-          CAMP AMOUREUX

-             

Located in Morondava, in the Menabe region, this infrastructure is thus called due to the presence of a “baobab- in-love” intertwined on the site.  Created by the Fanamby Ngo, it is managed with and for the benefit of the local community, via job creation, purchase of agricultural products or the attribution of a percentage of the Camp’s turnover.  It is the starting point of three circuits; one is nocturnal and allows the discovery of the Microcebus.  Activities stemming from tourism, from food supplying to guiding constitute alternatives to the unsustainable use of natural resources. 

Contact :          Fanamby Ngo

                        Lot II K 39 bis Ankadivato, 101 Antananarivo

                        BP 8434

                     Tel. : +261 20 22 636 61 ou +261 32 04 557 22

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                        www.fanamby.mg

-          ANDAVADOAKA and the  VELONDRIAKA ASSOCIATION

The small village of Andavadoaka, near Morombe has already been rewarded for environmental protection, with the Getty prize and the UNDP Equator Prize, ahead of 300 other projects across 70 countries.  This prized project was initiated in 2003 by the British NGO Blue Venture Conservation and entrusted to the Velondriaka Association, based in Andavadoaka and gathering 24 villages.  It deals with the protection of a 675km² maritime zone sheltering over 185 fish species and 321 coral species.  This marine protected area consists of 6 reserves forbidding fishing but opened to tourism; it is the first one to be managed by local communities.  One of its main objectives is to demonstrate the benefits generated from the sustainable use of marine resources.  Fishing, an important source of income for villagers is nowadays well-regulated.  In Andavadoaka, a famous seaside destination, these community-approved conservation initiatives go hand in hand with the other non-extractive activity: tourism.

Contact:            Blue Ventures

35, Rue Dr Ralarosy Ambohipotsy, 101 Antananarivo

Tel:22 316 37

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www.livewiththesea.org,www.blueventures.org

-          THE VAKINANKARATRA REGION AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

            The Vakinankaratra, the capital of which is Antsirabe, , a thermal city, is the first Region in Madagascar to be in possession of its own Sustainable Tourism and Spa Road Map, thanks to its partnership with the French Region of Auvergne.  Pilot sites have thus been identified, among which: The Queens’ summer palaces at Tsinjoarivo, for its historical and cultural heritage aspects; the city of Antsirabe and the Betafo region for sports and leisure; the Ibity Massif and Mount Tsiafajavona, third peak on the island for biodiversity and ecotourism.  The case of the Ambatolampy District should be specifically mentioned due to its agro-industrial and handicraft potential.  The two regions are planning awareness-raising, technical assistance and participatory planning activities there, with the populations; constraints and potential within each value chain will be assessed, as well as interlinkages with handicraft-production and ecotourism for the increase of revenues.  

Contact :          Vakinankaratra Regional Tourism Board (ORT Vakinankaratra)

                        Rue Maréchal Foch, près du Cercle Mess, 110 Antsirabe

                        Tel. :    +261 33 14 532 76

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• VOHITSOA

The Vohitsoa site, Imerimandroso, is one of the ecotourism pilot sites in the context of the Decentralised Cooperation between the Alaotra Mangoro Region (Madagascar) and the Ille et Vilaine Department (France).  Villagers have been trained in welcoming tourists and have been taught French, so as to share a solidarity village tourism experience with tourists.  The majority of villagers is from the Sihanaka ethnic group and is in charge of welcoming tourists for guest-house accommodation.  Visits include that of handicraft-production workshops where 68 women belonging to the Fifimi association reveal their basketry skills; experience traditional fishing on the Alaotra Lake or visit the Ambatomafana waterfalls to fish eels; walk among the rice paddies and visit projects initiated in Imerimandroso.  At the end of the day, a bon fire is lit in the middle of the village; a meal is shared around it, children dance and grown-ups tell stories…

Contact :               ORT Alaotra Mangoro

                             1er étage Restaurant Bezanozano, 514 Moramanga

                             Tel. :    +261 56 908 13

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