The Malagasy Constitution provides for environment conservation, including the management of mangroves and this is incorporated in the environmental legislation. There is need to improve the implementation of the environment law in the face of various human and natural pressures.
To that end, the community-based management natural resources law (GELOSE Law 96-025 of 30 September 1996) was enacted. It apportions the management of forests (including mangroves) from the government to the local community. Environmental Impact Assessment for all new and big projects with possible impact on the environment is required under Decree n° 99-954 of 1999 (modified by Decree n° 2004-167 of 2004) and this affords further protection to mangroves. The Fisheries Law 2015 in Article 112 provides that the establishment of aquaculture must under no circumstances result in the destruction of more than 10 per cent of mangroves within the surface of exploitation.
The institutional framework for mangroves includes the Ministry of the Environment, Ecology and Forests (MEEF), the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MRHP) and the Ocean Directorate which share the decision-making processes related to mangroves.
Madagascar is signatory of and participates in international agreements and fora. For instance, in the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) the country aims to restore 35,000 ha of primary forests and mangroves by 2020; and from 45,000 to 55,000 ha by 2030.