The international environmental organization Seacology has awarded a $20,000 grant to the Mandena/Manantenina communities found near the main entrance of Marojejy National Park. LCF will administer the grant in partnership with Madagascar National Parks (MNP).
The funds will help boost ecotourism, a primary objective of the IUCN’s Lemur Action Plan, by supporting repairs to Camp 1, also called Camp Mantella, which was badly damaged by Cyclone Enawo in 2017. Camp Mantella is the most visited tourism and research site in the SAVA region.
Tourist visits to Marojejy have fallen sharply in recent years. Nearly 1,500 people visited in 2015 and, in 2018, only about 1,100. Seacology’s grant will also support several local communities and MNP to increase intensive forest monitoring activities with LCF in Marojejy, where some illegal vanilla and rice plantations have been found inside Marojejy near the park entrance.