100 research outputs found
LâocĂ©an au coeur de la Grande Ăle : Les aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es, un outil de dĂ©veloppement durable pour Madagascar
Grande Ăle de lâocĂ©an Indien, Madagascar apparaĂźt comme une vĂ©ritable « Ăźle continent » avec une superficie de plus de 590 000 kmÂČ et plus de 5000 km de cĂŽtes. Ses zones marines et cĂŽtiĂšres abritent une variĂ©tĂ© dâĂ©cosystĂšmes et dâhabitats parmi lesquels les rĂ©cifs coralliens, mangroves, dunes, lagons, plages sableuses, herbiers de phanĂ©rogames, estuaires, Ăźles et Ăźlots auxquels sont associĂ©s de nombreuses espĂšces de coraux, poissons, reptiles, crustacĂ©s, mollusques, Ă©chinodermes. Les Ă©cosystĂšmes les plus connus sont certainement les rĂ©cifs coralliens avec une superficie de prĂšs de 5000 kmÂČ et les mangroves qui sâĂ©tendent sur plus de 3000 kmÂČ principalement sur les rivages occidentaux de lâĂźle. Ils apportent dâĂ©normes bĂ©nĂ©fices socio-Ă©conomiques aux communautĂ©s locales grĂące Ă la pĂȘche et aux activitĂ©s touristiques sans oublier les services Ă©cologiques que ces Ă©cosystĂšmes assurent pour lâĂ©quilibre de la planĂšte et le bien-ĂȘtre de lâHomme. Au vu de lâimportance de ces zones marines et cĂŽtiĂšres et dans le but de les prĂ©server face aux menaces et pressions dâorigine anthropique et naturelle, Madagascar sâest rĂ©solument investie dans la crĂ©ation et la mise en place dâaires marines protĂ©gĂ©es et de rĂ©serves marines afin de contribuer au bien-ĂȘtre des communautĂ©s locales qui en dĂ©pendent. Dans cette optique, le SystĂšme dâAires ProtĂ©gĂ©es de Madagascar, SAPM, a Ă©tĂ© mis en place pour offrir les outils appropriĂ©s de gestion, de gouvernance et de planification dans lâobjectif de tripler la surface des aires protĂ©gĂ©es, ce qui la porterait de 1,7 Ă prĂšs de 6 millions dâhectares (Vision Durban). La premiĂšre aire marine protĂ©gĂ©e a Ă©tĂ© officiellement crĂ©Ă©e en 1989 avec le parc marin de Nosy Antafana intĂ©grĂ© Ă la RĂ©serve de BiosphĂšre de Mananara Nord, suivie par les trois parcelles marines du Parc National de Masoala. Vingt ans aprĂšs le premier parc marin, de nouvelles aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es et rĂ©serves marines ont Ă©tĂ© crĂ©Ă©es ou sont en voie de crĂ©ation dans lâattente de lâobtention de leur statut dĂ©finitif1. Les aires protĂ©gĂ©es sur les rivages et dans les eaux malgaches sont le fruit dâun travail rĂ©alisĂ© dans un Ă©troit partenariat avec les communautĂ©s locales pour assurer une bonne gestion des parcs dont le contrĂŽle et la surveillance, le suivi Ă©cologique et lâapplication des rĂ©gulations du parc et le dĂ©veloppement des activitĂ©s liĂ©es au tourisme. Les communautĂ©s locales, garantes du succĂšs dâune telle entreprise, ont trouvĂ© leur intĂ©rĂȘt dans la protection de ces rĂ©serves comme cela a Ă©tĂ© montrĂ© pour le parc marin de Nosy Antafana ou la premiĂšre aire marine protĂ©gĂ©e gĂ©rĂ©e par les communautĂ©s locales Ă Velondriake dans le Sud-ouest. Ă Velondriake les communautĂ©s locales appliquent des rĂšgles traditionnelles, les dina, pour permettre une gestion efficace de la pĂȘche aux poulpes, grĂące Ă un vrai partenariat entre les acteurs concernĂ©s impliquant les communautĂ©s locales, les organismes Ă©tatiques et le secteur privĂ© comme les compagnies de pĂȘche. Et puis, trĂšs rĂ©cemment, un systĂšme de cogestion a Ă©tĂ© mis en place pour la premiĂšre fois sur une Ăźle du nord ouest, Nosy Tanikely. Au sein de ce systĂšme, la responsabilitĂ© de la gestion est partagĂ©e conjointement et Ă©quitablement de sorte que chaque entitĂ© apporte sa valeur ajoutĂ©e en termes de gestion et de protection des parcs nationaux, de promotion du tourisme durable et responsable, et dâintĂ©gration dans le processus de dĂ©veloppement local. MalgrĂ© ces efforts louables, des questions restent encore sans rĂ©ponses et placent les gestionnaires face Ă des dĂ©fis importants. (i) Le manque de ressources humaines pour assurer la gestion marine et cĂŽtiĂšre et plus particuliĂšrement la gestion des aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es reste dâactualitĂ© malgrĂ© les diffĂ©rentes opportunitĂ©s de formation qui se prĂ©sentent dans la rĂ©gion. (ii) Les aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es et rĂ©serves marines existantes profitent de programmes de suivi Ă©cologique et socioĂ©conomique, mais les connaissances scientifiques nĂ©cessaires pour rĂ©pondre vraiment aux besoins de gestion restent encore Ă dĂ©velopper. (iii) Lâimportance, surtout dans un contexte Ăźlien, dâinculquer Ă toutes les tranches dâĂąge, Ă tous les secteurs, la valeur des zones marines et cĂŽtiĂšres et des aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es en particulier, Ă travers des programmes dâĂ©ducation avec toutes les infrastructures appropriĂ©es. Les aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es constituent le seul outil de sensibilisation et dâĂ©ducation pour promouvoir lâimportance de la biodiversitĂ© marine au niveau local. (iv) Les gestionnaires font tous face Ă un problĂšme commun : lâaspect financier. Ă dĂ©faut de mĂ©canisme de financement durable, ces gestionnaires sont davantage focalisĂ©s sur la recherche des meilleurs moyens possibles pour assurer la gestion quotidienne. DĂšs lors que le budget de fonctionnement dĂ©passe les recettes de lâaire marine protĂ©gĂ©e, cette derniĂšre devient extrĂȘmement vulnĂ©rable et ne peut plus faire face aux alĂ©as Ă©conomiques et politiques. (v) Des succĂšs ont gĂ©nĂ©ralement Ă©tĂ© observĂ©s dans des rĂ©alisations au niveau des premiers utilisateurs sur les impacts socioĂ©conomiques des ressources marines, mais leur duplication Ă une Ă©chelle plus grande constitue un autre dĂ©fi. Les aires marines protĂ©gĂ©es et les rĂ©serves marines constituent dâemblĂ©e des outils efficaces pour la conservation de la biodiversitĂ© marine, la maintenance de la productivitĂ© et des processus Ă©cologiques mais aussi pour lâamĂ©lioration des conditions de vie des communautĂ©s locales. En prenant en considĂ©ration les diffĂ©rents projets et initiatives mis en oeuvre, et dans une perspective Ă long terme, il est Ă©vident quâune approche intĂ©grĂ©e est absolument nĂ©cessaire afin de pouvoir crĂ©er une meilleure coordination et dâassurer une synergie entre les acteurs dĂšs le dĂ©but de lâinstruction dâun projet ou programme et de rassembler conjointement les idĂ©es et expĂ©riences pour Ă©laborer un programme et dĂ©finir un objectif commun. Dans ce cas, la translation des succĂšs obtenus pourrait sâopĂ©rer Ă plus grande Ă©chelle et les rĂ©sultats amĂšneraient par consĂ©quent Ă une mobilisation de plus dâacteurs et de ressources financiĂšres. Madagascar occupe une place dominante dans lâouest de lâocĂ©an Indien mais en sâalliant Ă un processus dâintĂ©gration rĂ©gionale tournĂ© vers la conservation et la gestion des ressources marines, la sĂ©curitĂ© alimentaire, les Ă©changes de connaissances et le renforcement des capacitĂ©s, elle identifiera dâautres moyens pour atteindre son objectif
Ten years into the marshes â Hapalemur alaotrensis conservation, one step forward and two steps back?
Natural resource management problems typically involve a multitude of stakeholders with diverse sets of needs and interests, and often conflicting worldviews in an environment with growing uncertainty. Such problems are termed âwickedâ problems, where there are no right or wrong solutions, only more or less acceptable ones. In the case of Lake Alaotra, growing agricultural pressures have a negative impact on the wetland biodiversity and especially on the Alaotra gentle lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis) restricted to these marshlands. The species survival is highly uncertain because of increased habitat loss caused mainly by marshland fires. The conservation work for this unique lemur is complex and complicated and requires the involvement and collaboration of decision-making institutions, NGOs, universities and riverine communities. From the inception of projects to their implementation phase, all parties need clearly defined responsibilities and transparency in communication in order to run projects successfully. This article describes the approach that Madagascar Wildlife Conservation has been implementing during the past ten years at Lake Alaotra, discussing the plan of action and challenges for environmental education, ecotourism and alternative livelihoods. Les problĂšmes de gestion des ressources naturelles impliquent gĂ©nĂ©ralement une multitude dâintervenants avec divers ensembles de besoins et dâintĂ©rĂȘts, et souvent, les visions du monde contradictoires dans un environnement avec une incertitude croissante. Ces problĂšmes sont appelĂ©s problĂšmes sournois, âwicked problemsâ en anglais, oĂč il nây a pas de bonnes ou de mauvaises solutions, seules plus ou moins acceptables. Dans le cas du lac Alaotra, la croissance des pressions agricoles a un impact nĂ©gatif sur la biodiversitĂ© des zones humides, et en particulier sur lâAlaotra lĂ©murien douce (Hapalemur alaotrensis) limitĂ©e Ă ces marais. La survie de lâespĂšce est trĂšs incertaine en raison de lâaugmentation de la perte dâhabitat causĂ©e principalement par les feux de marais. Les travaux de conservation pour ce lĂ©murien unique sont complexes et compliquĂ©s, et nĂ©cessitent lâimplication et la collaboration sur la prise de dĂ©cision des institutions, des ONG, des universitĂ©s et des communautĂ©s riveraines. Cela implique que toutes les parties, depuis la crĂ©ation de projets Ă leur phase de mise en oeuvre, partagent un terrain dâentente avec les avantages clairement dĂ©finis de pouvoir de dĂ©cision, les responsabilitĂ©s et la transparence dans la communication. Madagascar Wildlife Conservation a travaillĂ© sur le lac depuis plus de dix ans, y compris lâĂ©ducation environnementale, l'Ă©cotourisme et les moyens de subsistance alternatifs dans le plan dâaction. Cet article met en Ă©vidence lâapproche adoptĂ©e et examine ses dĂ©fis
Epilepsy and traditional medicine in Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso).
OBJECTIVES: To contribute to a better knowledge of how epilepsy is perceived by traditional healers in Burkina Faso; what means they use to treat it, and how they think about modern treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Individual interviews with 65 traditional healers chosen at random from members of the Reelwende Association. RESULTS: All traditional practitioners were of male gender. Most of them were above 50 years of age, and 75% had more than 10 years' experience. Epilepsy was considered to be contagious by 44% of the traditional practitioners, and hereditary according to 40% of them. Roughly, 15% of the healers think that the problem is localized in the head of a person and 7.8% think that they have worms in their head. Thirty-one per cent of them diagnose epilepsy if there is a combination of 'convulsions, sudden fall, dribbling and amnesia'. Another 15% require a combination of 'convulsions, amnesia and dribbling', the remaining 54% make the diagnosis based on one symptom or various combinations of two symptoms of 'grand mal' (generalized tonic clonic) seizures and most claim they have a treatment for it. For a quarter of them, therapeutic-means include concoctions of herbs or roots, baths and infusions. During the fit, 31% of the traditional practitioners think that nothing should be performed. According to 75% of them, traditional and modern treatments are complementary. CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding important differences in culture and religions (Muslim, Christian and Original), there is great similarity between the knowledge and beliefs about epilepsy reported from other parts of Africa and those presented by our study-group, suggesting an ancient origin of the concepts. Further study is needed to find out how other facets of epilepsy (e.g. complex partial seizures, absences) are perceived and how these are being treated. Ways need to be found to raise awareness about epilepsy without interfering with religious and cultural beliefs
Local socio-economic effects of protected area conservation: The case of Maromizaha forest, Madagascar
The vision Madagascar Naturally aimed to triple the size of protected areas in Madagascar from 1.7 million hectares to 6 million hectares before 2008, in order to ensure the safe guarding of Madagascarâs natural heritage and the human well-being that depends on it. In 2008, Maromizaha forest was selected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests tobecome a New Protected Area where the delegated manager is the Groupe dâEtude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar (GERP). One of GERPâs strategies is to provide support to the livelihoods of the local people around the Maromizaha protected area in order to reduce the dependency on natural resources. During April 2014, GERP organized a rapid socio-economic survey of 70 households across six villages, in order to make a preliminary, comparison and assessment of this development support and its impact on the main income generating activities of the local people, their highest level of formal education in 2008 and 2014, and their thinking about conservation offsetting. The results showed that in 2014, 70% of local people were engaged in agriculture and less than 40% in cattle farming. Some villagers have benefited from pilot development projects organized by financial and environmental organizations. Other local people benefited from other livelihood activities related to the conservation management of the forest. Most participants were aware of the ecosystem services of the forests (94.3%) and the education level has increased from 2008 to 2014, although even in 2014, 56% of the survey participants were educated only to primary school level; the rate of illiteracy is at 15.6%. We summarize some strengths, weaknesses and recommendations in order to improve the management of the Maromizaha Protected Area
Positive Catch and Economic Benefits of Periodic Octopus Fishery Closures: Do Effective, Narrowly Targeted Actions 'Catalyze' Broader Management?
Eight years of octopus fishery records from southwest Madagascar reveal significant positive impacts from 36 periodic closures on: (a) fishery catches and (b) village fishery income, such that (c) economic benefits from increased landings outweigh costs of foregone catch. Closures covered 20% of a village's fished area and lasted 2-7 months.We discuss the implications of our findings for broader co-management arrangements, particularly for catalyzing more comprehensive management
Status of resistance to antimicrobial agents of Staphylococcus aureus strains at the laboratory of microbiology of the HU-JRA Antananarivo
Introduction: On contact of antibiotics, S. aureus has gradually acquired multiple antibiotic resistances, including the methicillin (MRSA) and without lose its virulence. The aim of the present study was to report the evolution of resistance of S. aureus to different common antibiotics and to determine the antibiotics active against MRSA.Materials and methods: This is a retrospective and descriptive study for 10 years from January 2005 to December 2014 at the Laboratory of Microbiology of the HU-JRA Antananarivo, the biggest academic hospital located in the capital of Madagascar. All demands for standard bacteriological examination were registered in the laboratory for various bacteriological exams or from samples taken from hospitalized patients and we included all positive cultures for S. aureus. The variables selected and used for the study were community or nosocomial sources of patients and results of susceptibility testing.Results: A total of 906 results from 282 (31.12%) community-acquired and 624 (68.88%) nosocomial infections were studied an average of 100±25strains by year of study. Overall, the prevalence of MRSA was 13.83% (39 of 282 isolates)for community-acquired strains, and 15.70% (98 of 624) for nosocomial infections (p> 0.05)with a total of 29.53%. Resistance rate to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was significantly higher in nosocomial infection than in community-acquired. No significant difference was observed in other antibiotics. Of the 137 MRSA, except vancomycin, fusidic acid is the antibiotic that worked the most in 114 cases (83.21%) followed by gentamicin in 96 cases (70.07%). Apart from ciprofloxacin and tetracycline that we have noticed an increase in resistance rates in 2012 and 2013, almost all antibiotics tested have a stable rate of resistance.Conclusion: The antibiotics tested showed extremely high rates of resistance and that the problem of antibiotic resistance in S. aureus is effective in our center.Keywords: Resistance -antibiotics- S. aureus - HU-JRA Antananariv
Luminous Red Galaxies in Simulations: Cosmic Chronometers?
There have been a number of attempts to measure the expansion rate of the
universe at high redshift using Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) as "chronometers".
The method generally assumes that stars in LRGs are all formed at the same
time. In this paper, we quantify the uncertainties on the measurement of H(z)
which arise when one considers more realistic, extended star formation
histories. In selecting galaxies from the Millennium Simulation for this study,
we show that using rest-frame criteria significantly improves the homogeneity
of the sample and that H(z) can be recovered to within 3% at z~0.42 even when
extended star formation histories are considered. We demonstrate explicitly
that using Single Stellar Populations to age-date galaxies from the
semi-analytical simulations provides insufficient accuracy for this experiment
but accurate ages are obtainable if the complex star formation histories
extracted from the simulation are used. We note, however, that problems with
SSP-fitting might be overestimated since the semi-analytical models tend to
over predict the late-time star-formation in LRGs. Finally, we optimize an
observational program to carry out this experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. Accepted to MNRAS
Oceanographic dataset collected during the 2021 scientific expedition of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship <i>Amundsen</i>
Since 2003, the state-of-the-art Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) research icebreaker Amundsen has furrowed the Canadian Arctic waters to support novel research endeavors and collect oceanographic data. This paper presents the data acquisition, the processing methods and an overview of the data collected during the 2021 expedition as the ship traveled over 30â000âkm during 122âd across the Canadian Arctic Ocean, collecting sea surface, atmospheric and seabed underway measurements. A total of 266 casts of a conductivity, temperature and depth profiler mounted on a Conductivity Temperature Depth rosette (CTD Rosette) were also conducted to monitor the main physical, chemical and biological parameters of the water column. More specifically, the data presented here were collected with the CTD Rosette across historical sampling transects in Davis Strait, the North Water Polynya (NOW) and Cape Bathurst. A 182âkm dedicated survey using the Moving Vessel ProfilerÂź (MVP), equipped with CTD, transmissometer, dissolved oxygen, fluorescence and sound velocity sensors, was conducted across Hudson Strait. We also present an overview of the data collected by the underway systems (seabed, thermosalinograph and atmospheric). Such data are essential in understanding the impacts of climate warming on the unique environments of the Canadian Arctic Ocean. Amundsen Science supports and promotes easy access and sharing of such valuable data to the scientific community.</p
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