Our project in Andriantantely, made possible thanks to the support of IUCN Save Our Species, is progressing well, and a range of activities has been initiated. For this update, we would like to focus on one element of the project, which is the establishment of tree nurseries.
Tree Nursery, Andriantantely © Hery Randriahaingo, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
The tree nurseries are temporary structures built using local or sustainably sourced materials, and they can be easily dismantled when not required. Each nursery is constructed within the zones allocated for community use within the respective VOI’s area of management responsibility, and the plants are cared for by the local people.
Forest restoration
Forest restoration is an important element in our project as it restores the forest cover in the protected zones where areas have been degraded due to inappropriate activities such as illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and the cutting down of trees because of gold mining. Our reforestation has two components: restoring the forest landscape and forecasting future needs of the community. Restoring the forest in the protected zones has three important benefits. It improves vital habitat for species such as lemurs, it helps mitigate the impact of climate change due to the carbon sequestration that occurs as part of the natural lifecycle of trees, and it helps to reinforce native tree species. Forecasting future needs by planting quick growing species identified as useful for the community helps ensure that the current remaining forest can remain untouched and the restoration project has the chance to develop, while the community still has the right to collect medicinal plants and the trees they need for construction.
Preparing substrate for planting © Hery Randriahaingo, The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
Local people are trained in the skills required to manage the nurseries, including preparing the substrate for planting, and tending the young plants.
Hery Randriahaingo regularly visits tree nurseries to provide help, advice and support © The Aspinall Foundation Madagascar
Our Field Project Coordinator, Hery Randriahaingo, who is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the project, supports each community to establish and maintain their tree nurseries.
The trees being grown are endemic/local species, with a focus on those that provide a food source for lemurs. This is because lemurs are natural dispersers of seeds, including those that are not part of the restoration project, and by attracting lemurs into restored areas of protected forest, we can, over time, diversify further the tree species in the reforested area. We use wildlings and seeds from the existing forest for the restoration project rather than buying seeds. In the wild, seeds from native trees are not widely dispersed but rather tend to be grouped in one area, giving only the chance for the strongest to survive. The local lemur patrollers, employed as part of the project, will collect poorly dispersed wildlings and seeds across a range of native endemic species as part of their weekly patrols. This is not only cost-effective, but it also reduces the risk of low germination rates, and where wildlings have germinated in the forest, they are already acclimatised to the soil and environment of the area.
In previous years, the plant pots have been plastic, and these will continue to be used until they are no longer fit for purpose. Going forward, we have been investigating different options, including employing local women to make pots from biodegradable materials. Purchasing pots made from alternative materials is also being trialled, and may be continued if proven to be biodegradable.
During the course of the three-year project, we estimate that approximately 42,000 saplings will be produced to transplant into degraded areas of the forest.
Agroforestry
In addition to forest restoration, the tree nurseries will also be used to support the agroforestry activities. Agroforestry involves growing both trees and agricultural crops on the same piece of land. Combining the right plants and using climate-smart, sustainable, farming techniques, which will be taught as part of the project, can increase productivity and diversify the produce grown.
For this project, we are combining native trees, many with beneficial attributes such as medicinal qualities, with income-generating crops such as coffee and cloves and the tree nurseries will be used for young plants before planting in the agroforestry areas.
Activities are Inclusive
An important aspect of all activities in our projects is that they should be open and available to all groups within the participating communities. Some of the roles are less attractive to certain groups but forest restoration involves people of all ages and both genders.
As the project progresses, we hope to bring you more details on all the component parts of the various activities. For now, we would like to end by saying again that we are grateful to IUCN for their support.
IUCN Save Our Species aims to improve the long-term survival prospects of threatened species. It also focuses on supporting the species' habitats and working with the communities who share this habitat. It achieves success by funding and coordinating conservation projects into multiple initiatives across the globe.