Madagascar
Our largest project with over 23 million trees planted so far
We are working to restore both the coastal Mangrove population as well as the in-land tree species. By doing this, we are providing hundreds of jobs, thousands of hours of employment, and restoring countless habitats for wildlife. In addition to employment, we are committed to providing education to the local communities in order to ensure that these problems don’t arise again.
Total Trees Planted
Planting Trees in Madagascar
One of the poorest countries in the world, Madagascar has faced a drastic change within its forest system over the past several decades. Due to extreme poverty, many villagers have been compelled to cut down entire forests to use as fuel, wood for construction, or to clear land for agriculture. Only four decades ago, Madagascar’s coastal estuaries were covered in healthy mangrove trees numbering in the billions.
tentree is working closely with our reforestation partner to replenish the mangrove trees along the west coast estuaries. We are committed to planting hundreds of thousands of mangrove trees at the Mahabana Estuary, 65 kilometres south of the port city of Mahajunga. This area is known for its complex ecosystem, including hundreds of meandering mangrove channels.
Throughout the project, local workers have become much more skilled and self-sufficient. Many can afford to send their children to the new school in Mahabana, and are finally able to pay for healthier food, decent clothes, and affordable healthcare.
The majority of the funds provided by tentree and its supporters enable the planting of mangrove trees along the estuary shoreline.
Our primary focus in Madagascar is to plant mangrove trees in coastal villages at the Northwestern area of the island. The species of mangroves are carefully selected by our knowledgeable partners at Eden Reforestation on the ground to ensure the highest survival.
Red Mangrove
These trees help prevent coastal erosion and are key to restoration of mangrove habitats. The root systems hold the soil together so the nutrients aren’t pulled away when the tide goes down. It is also used for firewood, the construction of buildings, and making fish traps. Various parts of the plant are also used in folk medicine.
Planting Process
Seed Collection
Mangrove are called “Propagules” and are dropped from the branches of mature trees. Once the propagules are collected, they are sorted, counted, and carefully stored for the next planting session.
Clearing Debris
A major part of the planting process in coastal areas is the clearing of debris (dead trees, stumps, branches, etc). This debris not only makes it extremely difficult to maneuver when planting, but also proves to be a great risk to destroying freshly planted propagules. Additionally, some of the removed debris can be used for fuel when cooking.
Transporting Trees
Each sack of propagules can weigh up to 50lbs and have to be transported by canoe. The most difficult element of the transportation is timing the tides within the mangrove channels to ensure the planting crews are able to safely return back to the village.
Planting the Mangroves
Planters must walk through thick, black, waist-high mud to randomly distribute the propagules. The seedlings are carefully pushed into the mud 3-4 inches. A crew of 12 planters will typically plant about 20,000 trees in a planting session.
Project Monitoring
In order to improve the quality of restoration projects, there is a critical need for monitoring the survivability of the work being done. Gathering accurate information from the most remote areas on earth is a difficult task. With our partners at Eden Reforestation Projects, we have been able to implement an offline data collection system that tracks when, where, and who planted the trees using mobile devices and weather-proof backup technology. With this technology we can gather images from the field and data for improving the overall success of a project.
