This experimental management programme has been developed by the CITES Management Authority of Madagascar in collaboration with the CITES Scientific Authority of Madagascar, a local non-government organization BIOSAVE and an industry association in response to the 1994 decision of the Standing Committee. The principal objective of the experimental programme is to develop a viable management system for the sustainable harvest and commercial export of chamaeleonid lizards (Calumma spp and Furcifer spp) and day geckoes (Phelsuma spp) in Madagascar. In developing the management regime to apply to those species for which zero export quotas have applied since 1994, the Management Authority of Madagascar has also reviewed the harvest levels for those species which were exempt from the export ban (Furcifer lateralis, F. pardalis,. F. verrucosus, F. oustaleti, Phelsuma madagascariensis, P. lineata, P. quadriocellata and P. laticauda). The Management Authority suspended exports of the eight species until ready to implement the experimental programme. The eight exportable species are being used to test and refine elements of the management system. Application of the experimental programme to the species of chameleon and phelsumid geckoes for which an export ban apply will be deferred until Standing Committee approval has been obtained.

The Convention of Cooperation, formulated and signed by the stakeholders in 1998, establishes the frame-work for cooperation between the Direction Générale des Eaux et Forêts and the individuals and organizations participating in the experimental programme. The programme will operate for a period of two years following which it will be reviewed in order to determine whether or not to expand harvesting to permit the participation of additional exporters.

To ensure that the experimental programme can be administered effectively and the various management and monitoring measures can be implemented and enforced, the number of exporters 'approved' to participate in the programme has been reduced to three exporters. The CITES Parties have been notified by the Secretariat of the names of these export companies. This will facilitate greater control over each export consignment. Moreover, the experimental programme will incorporate conservative export quotas for all species. The annual export of the eight common species will be limited to 2,000 specimens.