EDEN REFORESTATON PROJECT - MADAGASCAR

Deforestation has long been an issue for Madagascar as it is one of the world's top biodiversity conservation priorities because of its high concentration of endemic species and extreme rates of habitat loss. In the coastal zone, mangrove deforestation results in destabilizing the coastline and increasing coastal communities' vulnerability to storms and other weather events that are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change. In upland dry deciduous forests, deforestation threatens one of the world's rarest and most diverse forest systems. In response to the large-scale loss of mangroves and upland forests in Madagascar, Eden initiated the Madagascar Reforestation Project in 2007 and has now successfully planted over 200 million mangroves and dry deciduous trees. Eden Reforestation Projects works collaboratively with many different communities with full support from national, local and tribal governments to reforest large areas of mangrove and dry deciduous forests and the coast and inland areas. Eden will provide training and financial support to the local community to collect mangrove propagules and strategically plant millions of trees in coastal mangrove systems and upland dry deciduous forests that have been heavily degraded or deforested. Antsanitia Mangrove Site Description This is a vital mangrove estuary that needs long-term protection and restoration. The project site is located along the northwest coast of Madagascar, 15 miles north of the regional capital of Mahajanga. The project area has a deep-water mangrove estuary that opens to the sea surrounded by large mangrove forest swaths. It is abundant in giant barracuda, mangrove snapper, jacks, trevally, grouper, stingrays, and other fish varieties. It is also an essential fishery for shrimp, crab, and shellfish and provides habitat to various birdlife. Charcoal producers and tree poachers have targeted the mangrove channel and forest beyond. Over the last ten years, these threats have had a tremendous impact on the mangrove forest, and it is dwindling quickly. Both the government and local Malagasy communities are opposed to the charcoal production and illegal wood harvesting and support the long-term conservation and restoration of these sites. Eden's initial reforestation activities empower the community to protect what is left of the old-growth and while reforesting areas where mangroves have been lost.