An international conference in Antananarivo, Madagascar from the 12th to 14th October 2016, at the University of Antananarivo, Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques

The wetlands of Madagascar are extremely diverse, with ten sites recognized by the Ramsar convention for their importance, and numerous wetlands benefitting from protection as parks and reserves across the island. The biodiversity importance of the Malagasy wetlands is due to many endemic birds, fish, a lemur, a carnivore as well as numerous plants and aquatic invertebrates, but these areas are also the basis of livelihoods for many farmers and fisher folk dependent on the lakes, marshes and rivers to ensure their subsistence.

A wide range of international, national and local stakeholders play essential roles in the management of these wetlands, for example the local people, researchers, managers and the authorities. There are various landscape based approaches for managing wetlands in Madagascar, and this international conference is being organized to bring together a broad range of experts involved in wetland management, including decision makers, donors as well as managers and researchers.

Programme for the International Conference:

Tuesday 11^th October (evening): Exhibition of Photos from Lake Alaotra at the Institut Français de Madagascar.

Wednesday 12^th 　October　: Plenary Presentation by Conference Host, Professor Bruno Ramamonjisoa　; Presentation of the results from the AlaReLa Research Project; Round table discussions with stakeholders from the Lake Alaotra region. A practical training workshop will then be held on how to publish scientific articles in the journal Madagascar Conservation & Development.

Thursday 13th 　October　: Presentations by local site managers of natural wetland sites from across Madagascar, as well as findings of researchers and by other stakeholders for landscape scale approaches and their application to wetlands. 　Plenary presentations by Professor Jean-Pierre Sorg and Dr Claude Garcia.

Friday 14th October　: Presentations by decision makers, donors and NGO representatives. 　Plenary presentation by Mr. Oely Rakotomamonjy, Regional Officer for Africa and Madagascar at the Ramsar Secretariat.

Plenary Speakers:

Mr. Oely Rakotomamonjy, Regional Officer for Africa and Madagascar, RAMSAR Secretariat, Switzerland

Professor Jean-Pierre Sorg, Emeritus Professor, ETH Zurich.

Dr Claude Garcia, ETH Zurich and CIRAD.

Professeur Bruno Ramamonjisoa, ESSA, Université d’Antananarivo.

Objectives of the Conference 　:

1. To share the results of the research from the AlaReLa project in Lake Alaotra with other managers of wetlands interested in landscape based approaches.
2. To bring together site managers, researchers and other stakeholders of Malagasy Wetland Landscapes in order to :

• Share expertise and research findings as well as individual experience and best practices from conservation stakeholders in different regions of Madagascar;

• To support initiatives and efforts being undertaken by others to establish a Malagasy national network of wetland managers;

• To reinforce the capacity of wetland site managers and NGO staff in the publication of their research results and lessons/results from management.

• Working directly with editors and reviewers to start the process of publication of a special issue on landscape management of wetlands in the journal Madagascar Conservation & Development (MCD).

Host Committee: Professor Bruno Ramamonjisoa, Dr Patrick Ranjatson, Dr Harifidy Rakoto-Ratsimba,ESSA, University of Antananarivo.

Organization Committee: Tahiana Ramananantoandro, Ihoby Randriamalala, Natacha Stoudmann, Lucienne Wilmé, Bruno Ramamonjisoa, Patrick Waeber, Barry Ferguson.

Scientific Committee: Lucienne Wilmé, Bruno Ramamonjisoa, Patrick Waeber, Barry Ferguson.

How to take part in the conference

If you are interested in presenting your work during the conference, we invite you to submit a declaration of interest before the 1^st September 2016.　 Please specify if you wish to present orally or through a poster, and if you envisage submitting a manuscript for publication of a scientific article in the wetland special issue of MCD.

Abstracts (maximum 200 words) of your presentation must be submitted before the 14^th of September 2016.　 We ask you to submit declaration of interest, abstracts by sending them to the conference email address: conferencezoneshumides2016@gmail.com

The decisions of the scientific committee will be communicated no later than the 19th September 2016.