MADAGASCAR TREE PLANTING PROJECTS

Madagascar is more than just an island from an animated movie. It’s a nation with over 200,000 species of plants and animals that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Yet, more than 90% of Madagascar’s original forests have been destroyed, displacing entire animal species and taking away the Malagasy’s ability to farm and live on the land. Entire mangrove estuaries are gone, leaving the bare earth to wash away into the sea.

Eden Reforestation Projects (Eden) launched its Madagascar project sites in 2007 by restoring ecologically-devastated mangrove estuaries in the northwest of the country. Mangrove forests are essential ecosystems whose dense roots serve as an anchor for the soil and coastline, preventing erosion and creating a barrier between harsh ocean systems and land. What began as primarily mangrove restoration and reforestation in 2007 grew to include a variety of native dry deciduous species in 2012.

Eden partners include two national park systems, which aim to reforest and revive natural habitat for endangered and endemic animal species.

Content courtesy of Eden Reforestation Projects