Posted on September, 21 2018

 A tragedy for the whole village, exacerbated by a weak social cohesion that meant that everyone wanted to save their own house instead of putting out the fire together. This was also the consequence of harmful tolerance towards bushfires in the forests managed by the communities of Ankazomborona.
 
WWF supported a series of trainings on community forest management and leadership in 2017. Villagers in Ambaro Bay, including those from Ankazomborona, have followed these capacity building trainings. Since then, community funds have quintupled because members know where their membership fees are going. In addition to that, they have decided together how to spend their money according to their community needs.
 
"This cohesion has been the key to the effective management of our mangroves," said Ahmad Jacques, president of the village community. Thanks their joint efforts and the 1400 sheet metals for roofing provided by the WWF, villagers were able to rebuild nearly 120 houses.
 
Today, confident that the protection of mangroves is important, 350 villagers have joined the organization that manages the surrounding mangrove forest. Ankazomborona is an effective community based management model because the village mangroves are among the most intact and best protected in Ambaro Bay. In just four years, villagers have reforested 151 hectares of mangroves.