Jurisdiction · frontier risk · counsel priority 2
Madagascar
CLB process timeline (1-2 years) is the deployment-defining constraint; cyclone exposure creates concentrated geographic reversal risk
Property mapping
Bail emphytéotique (private) or convention de gestion / GELOSE (community) · Loi 96-016 (1996, bail emphytéotique); Loi 96-025 (1996, GELOSE); Loi 2005-019 + 2006-031 (land reform); Loi 2015-005 + Decree 2017-179 (protected areas)
Recording office
Service Topographique et Foncier (provincial); Direction des Domaines (national)
- Paris/Antananarivo-based counsel drafts bail emphytéotique or convention
- Notarial registration
- Conservation Foncière recording (for emphytéotique)
- Ministry of Environment + commune recording (for GELOSE)
- CLB (Communauté de Base) registration: 1-2 year process
Corporate wrapper options
- Marshall Islands DAO LLC + Malagasy local NGO partner
- Fondation under Malagasy law as alternative wrapper holder
Charitable structure
Association under Loi 60-133 (1960) or Fondation under Loi 95-028 (1995); BCM currency-flow controls
Income-tax deductibility
Limited; Code Général des Impôts; conservation gift framework constrained
Crypto regulation
Undeveloped; BCM cautionary statements but no operational regulation; Earth Credits commodity vs. security characterization novel
Indigenous considerations
Fihavanana social principle; ethnic/clan groupings (Merina, Betsimisaraka, Tsimihety, Sakalava, Antaisaka); fady (sacred sites); CLB structure is community-governed; Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership relationships
Risks
- CLB process political stalling (high) — Ministry of Environment turnover delays convention validation 18+ months
- Cyclone destruction (concentrated geographic) (high) — Multi-property reversals from single climate event
- MGA devaluation (moderate) — Currency volatility affects operations
- Limited in-country counsel capacity (moderate) — Most sophisticated firms are Paris-based with Madagascar relationships