|
HIV/AIDS: A new challenge for Protected Area Management in Madagascar - The integration of HIV/AIDS activities into the Management of Ankarafantsika National Park
Dr Pascal Lopez (team leader), Ulrike Bergmann, Philippe Dresrьsse, Michael Hoppe, Alexander Frцde, Sandra Rotzinger
SLE Studies
2004
SARPN acknowledges Eldis as a source of this document www.eldis.org
|
|
|
[Download complete version  - 86Kb < 1min (6 pages)]
[ Share with a friend 
]
|
Summary
Over recent years, the importance of HIV/AIDS in the field of natural resource management (NRM) has begun to be internationally recognised. In high prevalence regions the impact of the epidemic on natural resources is obvious. HIV/AIDS increases poverty in affected families, as those who have fallen ill migrate from towns back to their villages; meanwhile, traditional knowledge regarding the sustainable use of natural resources is lost. As people look for new sources of revenue, unsustainable practices take hold, increasing the pressure on natural resources. Further, institutions responsible for the protection of resources, such as protected area authorities, suffer temporary or permanent loss of manpower and, as a result, are confronted with increased financial costs.
However, institutions responsible for natural resource management also have a number of comparative advantages in the response to HIV/AIDS. They have established stable contacts with local communities and organisations in fairly inaccessible rural areas. The first examples of good practice of natural resource management authorities working on HIV/AIDS are now beginning to emerge from some high HIV prevalence countries.
Since 2002, the Malagasy government has taken a multisectoral approach to HIV/AIDS. Organisations and institutions working in all sectors are encouraged to participate in the response to HIV/AIDS through sectoral strategies. In other developing
countries, the multisectoral approach has already proved successful in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS. The Malagasy HIV/AIDS policy aims to stabilise the rate of infection at its current low levels (currently 1.7%). Compared with other countries in southern Africa,
Madagascar is considered a low prevalence country. It was important to keep the specific challenges of a relatively low prevalence setting in mind during concept development for this study.
|
|
Related documents