MADAGASCAR BOMBETOKA
Restoring and reconnecting decimated forest along the Madagascan coastline while protecting critically endangered lemurs and empowering the local community.
PLANTING PARTNER
Eden Reforestation Projects
Boeny Region, Madagascar
This planting project is located on the western side of Bombetoka Bay in the Boeny Region on Madagascar's coastline. Madagascar is home to some of the world's most unique flora and fauna, with 200,000 species of plants and animals that don't exist anywhere else. The situation there is also critical as 97% of Western Madagascar's dry, deciduous forests have been devastated by tree cutting and frequent fires for hunting and agriculture. Minute natural forest fragments remain along steep ravines and support a now tiny lemur population. There is an urgent need to raise awareness of forest loss and the essential role of reforestation and conservation among the inhabitants and tourists visiting the nearby area.
IMPACTS.
865
Hectares of forest
200,000 species of plants and animals that don't exist anywhere else in the world.
250,000
Trees planted
LOCAL IMPACT.
Engaging and employing the local community is crucial to the project's success. Locals are employed to grow, plant, and guard dry deciduous tree species in the area.
This method of 'employ to plant' engages locals, raises awareness of the importance of the forest and empowers families to escape the circle of poverty, which often includes debt relief and indentured servanthood. 40% of those employed by the project are women, intending to increase to 60% in the coming years. This project aims to empower the people and communities adjacent to the planting site by providing a consistent income, often for the first time. This income offers the opportunity to save, educate children, buy land and property and create microenterprises for their and their children's future.
IMPACT ON NATURE.
The project is on protected, government-owned land intended for future conservation, education and eco-tourism purposes. The project aims to restore approximately 2,500 hectares of primarily dry-deciduous forests and a fringe of mangroves along the shoreline.
Over time, these two vital vegetative systems will become a continuous ecosystem and ultimately connect to the other TreeSisters-supported mangrove project in Madagascar and become part of the wider Mahajanga Green Belt Project. The area is a crucial habitat for many species, including a small population of Crowned Sifaka lemur, a native Sifaka to Western Madagascar listed on The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of threatened species. A chameleon species (Furcifer Voeltkowi) previously considered extinct was also found on the restoration site in 2018.
PROJECT IMPACT.
The forests in Madagascar are under constant threat. Mangroves are affected by agriculture expansion (rice and fish farms) and local demand for timber, charcoal and firewood. Dry forests are affected by fire for hunting and land cultivation, as well as local demand for timber, firewood and charcoal and mining for celestite.
This protected project intends to plant 165,000 trees annually. 90% of these trees will restore the natural and functioning dry forest ecosystem and fringing mangroves on the coastline. A further 10-20% will be agroforestry trees to provide locals with an alternative to further deforestation for livelihood purposes.
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