- An angry crowd allegedly set fire to a site office of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Ambinanitelo Maroantsetra, in northeastern Madagascar, on May 4.
- Photos circulating on social media show that the office was destroyed , the staff are believed to be safe.
- Six men were allegedly caught logging in the core of Makira Natural Park, managed by WCS. An environment ministry official suggested that their capture angered nearby residents.
- Local authorities are waiting for tensions to subside before resuming the probe, as they say it might place WCS staff and park personnel at risk.
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — On May 4, angry residents allegedly set fire to Wildlife Conservation Society’s office overseeing Makira Natural Park in northeast Madagascar. WCS, a New York-based NGO present in Madagascar since 1993, manages the reserve.
Photos shared by Malagasy activist Clovis Razafimalala on Facebook show that the fire destroyed the office located in the rural municipality of Ambinanitelo. The WCS staff present at the site are believed to be safe.
Local authorities are investigating the alleged attack, and initial interviews suggest a run-in between illegal loggers and forest guards might be at the heart of the incident.
According to Jean Roger, a representative of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development in Maroantsetra district, forest guards alerted him and the local police about the existence of illegal logging activity in the core area of Makira Park, which is spread across 372,470 hectares (920,000 acres, roughly three times the size of Los Angeles).
A team consisting of environment ministry representatives, WCS-backed eco-guards and gendarmes were deployed in response to the alert, Roger told Mongabay via a phone call. In the field, they faced four men who appeared ready to transport cut logs and two other men carrying chainsaws. One of the chainsaw-wielding men escaped while the rest of them were captured, according to Roger. The gendarme is a kind of militarized police force that sometimes gets involved in tackling illicit activities at protected sites. “The eco-guards were not a part of the arrest,” a spokesperson for WCS, who did not wish to be identified, told Mongabay.
The five men were taken to the WCS office in Ambinanitelo. The WCS spokesperson said that the detained individuals only passed through the NGO’s office.
“The mayor [of Mariarano, a commune neighboring the park] called me to say that upset people in Antanambao Andranasana are calling for the immediate release of the group taken to the WCS office,” Roger said. I ordered the [release of] the four transporters and the quick transfer of the man who had been carrying a chainsaw to the nearby town of Maroantsetra to face a judge, the ministry official added.
“Barely 10 minutes after the man had been taken away, a crowd from Antanambao Andranasana, from where the six men allegedly hailed, arrived at the WCS office.
Local elders and administrative representatives tried to calm down the crowd by explaining what was happening, Roger said.
The attempt to cool tempers appears to have failed, and when the agitators didn’t find the remaining captured person on the spot, the situation escalated, ultimately culminating in the fire at the WCS premises.
The sole person in custody, alleged that local politicians were involved in the illegal logging activity, according to news reports. However, Mongabay has not been able to independently verify these claims.
Contacted by Mongabay, the chief of the local gendarmerie said the police are still investigating both the allegations: illegal logging and arson.
But authorities are waiting for tensions to subside before resuming the probe, as it might place WCS staff and park personnel at risk.
Mongabay reached out to the WCS country director for Madagascar but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Banner image: An aerial view of Makira Natural Park. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
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[Editor’s note: This article was updated on May 20, 2026, to redact the name of an individual who did not wish to be quoted on the record and to include responses from WCS.]