WeForest Project
Title
Madagascar Ampohibe
Restoring Degraded Lands
Project Summary
To restore the native forest, this project empowered local communities in ecological restoration. Local community members were engaged in all stages of project, from collecting native seeds from the nearby national park to transplanting and caring for the trees. The seeds were purchased from villagers living along the border of the national park, where they were then cared for my community members working in the nursery, before the whole village took part in the transplanting and monitoring process. Among the species planted were economically and nutritionally valuable fruit trees. Even local children were involved, volunteering as young nursery managers, who were trained in the nursery gardening school. The power to restore their environment is placed back into the hands of local people.
Region
Amophibe, northern Madagascar
Project Status
Closed
Project Goals
Restore native forest
Promote biodiversity
Promote economic and liveilhood development
Why is intervention needed?
The island of Madagascar is endowed with natural resources and exceptional landscapes. However, a large swathe of the country's original forests have been destroyed, displacing animal species and robbing the Malagasy people of their livelihoods. The increasing pressure of the human population, and the forest burning activities that follow, is causing progressive and irreversible damage to the primary forests, and causing a decline in soil fertility and species richness. Around the village of Amophibe, close to the Masoala National Park (the largest forested area in Madagascar), land was unfit for farming purposes, devastated by burning and too far from the village to serve as pasture for the Zebu people.
