Makira Carbon Project en

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT OF
MADAGASCAR AGREE TO SAVE PRISTINE FOREST THROUGH

MASSIVE CARBON SALE
More than nine million tons to be sold to protect forest and combat climate
change
The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Government of Madagascar announced a

landmark agreement, where the government will offer for sale more than nine million tons of
carbon offsets to help safeguard this African nation’s most pristine forest. Proceeds from sales
will protect the wildlife-rich Makira Forest, contribute to the economic well-being of people
living around the forest, and help fight global climate change.
Representatives of the Madagascar Government and the Makira Carbon Company (or
MCC), a separate company established by WCS, signed the agreement at a ceremony in
Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. The carbon offsets will be marketed and sold by the
government in private transactions with the aid of MCC. MCC will work in collaboration with
the Ministry of Environment, Water, Forests, and Tourism of Madagascar. The Madagascar
government, with MCC as its agent, will seek carbon offset transactions with principals, brokers,
dealers, and other intermediaries in the United States and abroad who wish to purchase high-
quality emissions reductions delivering multiple benefits – climate change mitigation,
biodiversity conservation, and sustainable economic development.
The Makira Forest spans 400,000 hectares (more than 1,500 square miles), making it one
of the largest remaining intact blocks of rainforest in Madagascar. It contains 22 species of
lemurs, hundreds of bird species, and thousands of plant varieties, many of which are found
nowhere else on earth. About 50 percent of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, and one percent
of the world’s biodiversity, exists within the greater Makira landscape. The landscape provides a
critical forest corridor, which allows wildlife to travel between adjoining protected areas and
outlying blocks of forest. The Makira Forest provides vital ecosystem services, such as clean
water to the approximately 300,000 people who live around it.
“WCS is honored to be working with the government of Madagascar in creating this new
model for conserving its greatest forest,” said Dr. Steven E. Sanderson, President and CEO of the
Wildlife Conservation Society. “The government continues to show global leadership in
conservation, climate change and concern for its people.”
Harrison Randriarimanana, Madagascar Minister of Environment, Water, Forests, and
Tourism, said: “The signing of this accord on the sale of carbon credits constitutes a tremendous
first and shows the commitment of the Government of Madagascar to lead conservation of
biodiversity in Madagascar, and at the same time, ensure the long term financing for the
sustainable development and sustainable management of protected areas. With the assistance of
Makira Carbon Company, the Government of Madagascar will sell the carbon credits and use the
funds for supporting biodiversity conservation and the economic development of Madagascar.”
Also present at the signing event were high level representatives of the Government of
Madagascar, Madagascar’s Ambassador to the United Nations, and the U.S. Ambassador to
Madagascar.
In Madagascar, 100,000 hectares (386 square miles) of forest are lost each year due to
burning for agricultural land.
The announcement of the sale of Makira carbon is particularly timely in the wake of the
recently unsuccessful efforts to pass cap-and-trade carbon legislation in Congress. The Wildlife
Conservation Society is calling on Congress to make sure that avoided deforestation is a central
component of any future legislation to limit carbon emissions.
Dr. Sanderson said: “The agreement between WCS and the Government of
Madagascar has a ‘triple bottom line’: it ensures forests and wildlife are protected, local people
benefit and climate change is mitigated.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society has been carrying out conservation activities in
Madagascar since the early 1990s and in Makira since 2003 when it was appointed manager of
the Makira Forest project. WCS continues to work closely with the Ministry of Environment,
Water, Forests and Tourism, local organizations and community groups towards establishing a
new permanent protected area that encompasses the Makira Forest. Sale of Makira carbon
offsets by the government will provide an important source of sustainable financing towards
achieving that goal.
The Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates field projects throughout the island
nation, opened Madagascar! on June 19th – a new exhibit at its Bronx Zoo headquarters that
showcases the country’s amazing biodiversity, including ring-tailed lemurs, spider tortoises, and
tomato frogs.
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science,
global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the
flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and
humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.
www.wcs.org

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WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT OF

MADAGASCAR AGREE TO SAVE PRISTINE FOREST THROUGH

The Wildlife Conservation Society and the Government of Madagascar announced a

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