Madagascar is one of "Biodiversity Hotspots", regions with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans. In southern Madagascar, there remain only small-sized fragmented forests. In such area, keeping the small forests as many as possible is only a realistic conservation strategy and well-managed conservation plan with regular monitoring and feedback from it is required. I propose "Open Field Museum" plan to conserve the small fragmented forest and contribute to sustainable development of the local community. In the plan, I collect not only "scientific knowledge" about fauna and flora but also "local knowledge" which is knowledge about forest in the local people, and integrate them through the field museum activities. I also evaluate the effect of activities on biodiversity conservation function, local economic function, and educational function of the reserve. This study would provide a new concept of management of small-sized protected forest.

Project Background
Madagascar is one of Biodiversity hotspot regions with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from human activities. In southern Madagascar, there remain only small-sized fragmented forests. In such area, keeping the small forests as many as possible is only a realistic conservation strategy and well-managed conservation plan with regular monitoring
and feedback from it is required.

Methods
In this project, I proposed “Open Field Museum” plan to conserve the small fragmented forest and contribute to sustainable development of the local community. For the project, I collected not only “scientific knowledge” about fauna and flora but also “local knowledge” which is knowledge about forest in the local people, and integrated them through the field museum activities. I also evaluated the effect of activities on biodiversity conservation function, local economic function, and educational function of the reserve.

Results
Based on a review of previous reports and my observations, I created a list of forest vertebrate species recorded in the reserve: 27 mammals, 106 birds, 46 reptiles, and 6 amphibians. This result suggests that the forests of Berenty Reserve have relatively high vertebrate diversity for their size. On the other hand, we confirmed the absence of some vertebrate species (e.g., fossa), suggesting that the forest is too small to hold large carnivores. Three species of tenrecs and at least 46 species of birds were recognized as bushmeat for the local Tandroy people, although these species were only hunted opportunistically by young men. However, most mammals, 11 species of birds, and all reptiles and amphibians were not regarded as food. Moreover, small mammals, skinks, geckos, and frogs seemed to be less recognized by the local people. These taxa are also poorly studied by scientists. Thus, small animals (small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians) and their potential extinction risk may be going unnoticed in this small forest.

Publications
1. Ichino S, Maehata T. 2017.『Biby sy Vorona eto Berenty』Kyoto University Lemur Research Team. 58 pp.
2. Ichino S, Maehata T, Rakotomanana H, Rakotondraparany F. (in press) Forest vertebrate fauna and local knowledge among the Tandroy people in Berenty Reserve, Southern Madagascar: a preliminary study. African Study Monographs Supplemental Issue. 54.