Abstract
The problem to resolve is the sustainable management of the environment in two regions of the islands in the Indian Ocean, using field observations to characterize the surroundings and their biodiversity, and spatial images to facilitate the decision-making concerning local development. In Madagascar, the regions establish development plans that include sustainable management of the environment. Nonetheless, little scientific information is available on the regional ecologic mechanisms, and the existing development plans only take into account partial data. In the Comoro Islands, environment corrosion is even faster, due to a high population density. The government is considering the creation of national parks for preservation; hence it is necessary to conduct scientific studies on the functioning of ecosystems to facilitate the decision-making for the elaboration of a development plan. We have chosen a zone of study in Madagascar (the region of Alaotra) and one in the Comoro Islands (island of Mohéli). Alaotra, a region where agriculture and mining is of great importance, suffers from strong human pressure. Mohéli has a marine park, but knowledge and a follow-up of the island’s ecosystems are necessary because the forest of Mohéli, which has not yet been inventoried, has an undoubted influence on the balance and functioning of the marine park. An ecologic inventory and cartography of the vegetation, based on images and field data, will be conducted in Alaotra, and this will make it possible to follow the evolution of the forest. Impacts and erosion factors will also be studied. Permanent plots for ecological follow-ups will be set up. A GIS analysis will reveal the interactions between the different factors causing corrosion. For Mohéli, an ecologic inventory will be conducted, and updated maps of vegetation and soil activity will be drawn up. The extent of the impacts of erosion on the marine environment will be mapped and followed using pictures as starting point. We will proceed to an analysis of the structure (distribution of species, diameters and leaf-area index) of the forest of Mohéli. The integration of geological and ecological knowledge along with satellite data will be managed using the GIS. A plan for regional development could be proposed. Postgraduate studies in vegetal ecology and geomatics already exist at the University of Antananarivo. This multidisciplinary project will favour the impending setup of new training courses of type DML. In the Comoro Islands a new department for earth and environment sciences is training students. The participants in this project could get training in new technologies that are implemented. Young Comorian and Madagascan researchers would prepare their theses within the framework of this project. Exchanges will also be made on a level of final and postgraduate studies, which will be given by the French (in the Comoro Islands and Madagascar) and Madagascan teachers-researchers (in the Comoro). The publications made during this project will allow the researchers in the South to progress in their career and carve out a niche for themselves in the world of scientific research. This project offers multiple regional dimensions: zones of study, participating academic departments, and young PhD students. It will favour the North-South partnership as well as the South-South one. The expected outcomes will have an immediate utility on regional administrative levels. This project will allow the researchers from the South to participate in the worldwide networks of researchers.
France