Our professional staff includes world- renowned specialists who have pioneered
August 2, 2002 - On July 19, 2002, the EPIQ/IRG Madagascar Environmental Management Support Project-known as PAGE came to a close. USAID began financing PAGE in Madagascar in mid-1999 to support Malagasy partners in environmental
policy, environmental assessment, ecological monitoring, sustainable financing and forest governance.

The $6.8-million project succeeded in building capacity in Madagascar in a number of areas, including:

• Environmental impact assessment, including strategic impact assessments in mining and tourism, computer-assisted training tools for medium-size mining operations, and support to the government's evaluation of the QMM ilmenite mine in the south.

• Environmental policy, including decentralized policy support initiatives, strategic planning with the Ministry of the Environment and a capacity-building program in environmental economics.

• Sustainable financing of environmental activities, including marketing and communications for the national park system, a carbon pilot, conservation payments, and training.

• Ecological monitoring, including forest cover change studies, software that improves conservation planning, and a biodiversity priority-setting methodology.

• Forest governance and communication, including development of a governance strategy and communication tools and translation and dissemination of key forest legal and regulatory texts.

Due to political unrest in Madagascar and a forced evacuation order, the PAGE contract was ended several months early, and IRG staff members were evacuated to Washington, DC, for PAGE's final days.

Although the contract is completed, PAGE's priority work continues to be carried out by Malagasy and international partners. As reported in the Madagascar Tribune, on July
18, the new Minister of Water and Forests, Alibay Johson, met with the U.S. Ambassador and the USAID Director, and jointly pledged to continue work on forest governance, including the strategy development and communication work supported directly by PAGE. Former PAGE staff member Luciano Andriamaro, now at Madagascar's office of PACT, will continue to work on the biodiversity priority-setting processes begun under PAGE. And PAGE's Evah Andriamboavonjy, now with PACT/Madagascar, will apply information management tools developed under PAGE to PACT's work in regional planning.