Thanks to recent efforts by UNESCO, Atsinanana and two other African sites have been removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger, highlighting the importance of global cooperation and local engagement.
For communities living in and around Andohahela National Park in Madagascar, water is a constant concern.
Without water, they cannot cultivate their land and must turn to other activities, such as illegal logging or slash-and-burn agriculture, to meet their needs.
These problems are not unique to Andohahela: they affect all six parks of the Atsinanana Rainforests, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As a result, they were inscribed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 2010.
Through this initiative, UNESCO is placing residents living near key parks like Andohahela and Marojejy at the heart of conservation efforts.
More than 550 residents, including young people, have received vocational training in trades such as masonry, metalworking, fish farming, ecotourism, basket weaving, cooking, and guiding.
