Open letter published in L’Express de Madagascar on 25 January 2020
The President of the Republic carries a great ambition: to cover Madagascar with forests and turn the red island into a green island. The course was set out in a Communication adopted on 27 February 2019 by the Council of Ministers. By making 19 January 2020 a national reforestation launch day — marked notably by the planting of 1.2 million trees in the Analamanga region — the Government sent a strong signal of a mobilization that is to continue. This momentum is remarkable and should be acknowledged and welcomed. It powerfully reinforces the commitments Madagascar made to restore 4 million hectares of degraded land and forests by 2030, and aligns perfectly with the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
This national priority is not only justified — it is an existential challenge. Anyone flying over Madagascar can see that the island today displays vast bare landscapes, almost completely unproductive and on the way to desertification. In a country where 80% of the population is rural and depends on the primary sector, this devastation is a major driver of poverty and undermines the foundations of sustainable, inclusive development. The continuous retreat of the forests has thus been an essential factor weakening the country for decades.
The situation is likely to worsen. Already, some primary forests — such as the dry forest of Menabe Antimena — are at risk of disappearing. Madagascar’s population will double over the next 25 years, increasing pressure on the environment, and on forests in particular. The effects of the climate crisis will also intensify, with risks of accelerated desertification, more violent fires, and devastating floods, already observed in many regions of the world.
To protect the country, it is imperative to bring the President’s vision to life and reverse the trend. An immense challenge — but also an immense opportunity. Greening Madagascar will help reduce poverty, develop a forest economy, ensure a sustainable supply of fuelwood, control erosion, restore soil fertility, secure a more abundant and regular water supply, mitigate floods, maintain and restore protected areas and biodiversity, strengthen ecotourism, and mitigate climate change. This national effort will strengthen confidence in the nation, improve the country’s international image, and above all provide a better living environment for millions of people.
All the ingredients seem to be there: political will, the quality and diversity of stakeholders, new technologies for monitoring and managing forests, mobilizable financing. The challenge now is to get there together, mobilizing all capacities around a shared vision, an agreed implementation plan, and proven results for the country. How?
8 essential conditions for success
First condition: raise awareness and engage the populations. The mutual sharing of knowledge between stakeholders and communities is essential so that everyone understands the vital importance of maintaining and restoring the ecological functions of forests and landscapes. This is how communities will voluntarily commit to protecting forests and to planting and tending efforts, for themselves and for their children. The national momentum must be participatory, with solutions that the population can easily support and contribute to implementing. Particular attention must be paid to youth, and to balanced engagement of women and men. This social acceptance is fundamental. Many actors in civil society, the private sector, and the media have experience in this area and can assist the State in achieving this objective.
Second condition: respond to poverty. The well-being of the population should be at the centre of leaders’ and stakeholders’ concerns, particularly through the implementation of the National Strategy for Landscape and Forest Restoration (RPF). This includes an incentive-based economic approach: strengthening user rights to motivate communities, rational management of forest resources, promotion of agricultural activities, development of forest, agricultural, and agroforestry value chains. For example, replanting native species in protected areas can be combined with massive planting of cash trees (fruits, cinnamon, cocoa, raffia, fuelwood, timber, etc.) outside these areas. Incentives must be created — including land tenure incentives — to encourage the population and the private sector to invest. The National Fuelwood Strategy must also be implemented, providing for the development of a sustainable charcoal value chain, the widespread adoption of efficient cookstoves, and the development of alternative energy sources.
Third condition: enforce the law. It is impossible to manage a common good without setting rules and enforcing them. The State must fight objectively, relentlessly, and transparently against corruption and trafficking, and for compliance with all laws relating to the environment, protected areas, and natural resources, including land forests and mangroves. Land-use planning frameworks must also be respected.
Fourth condition: protect existing forests. Reforesting without protecting existing forests would be a losing race, and the net forest area would continue to decrease each year. Moreover, Madagascar’s primary forests harbour a unique and highly threatened heritage that must urgently be protected — including 11,000 species of endemic plants and more than 100 species of lemurs. The State must strengthen its human and material capacities to protect forests and combat fires. Finally, reforestation must respect biodiversity: as far as possible, it must favour native species, and trees considered invasive must never be planted near natural forests.
Fifth condition: scale. “Covering Madagascar with forests” is a challenge of unprecedented scale in the country’s history, requiring a very robust strategy supported by Malagasy stakeholders and donors with 5-, 10-, and 30-year objectives. There can be no sustainable protection of existing forests without massive restoration and reforestation in the rest of the country — the only way to meet the needs of a growing population without compromising primary forests. Landscape and forest restoration must be based on ambitious landscape management and planning frameworks that integrate consideration of different economic sectors, an analysis of land tenure obstacles, and an improvement of access to land ownership.
Sixth condition: sustainability. By nature, landscape and forest restoration is a long-term endeavour. For each reforestation, it is essential to plan for survival rate monitoring, periodic maintenance, and evaluation. The entire forestry sector must also be sustainable, which implies good complementarity between the State — which sets the course, rules and incentives — and the private sector, which has a key role to play in managing the value chain. Sustainable wood production has great potential to provide income and jobs for local populations, and strengthening it must be a priority.
Seventh condition: take the climate crisis into account. It is essential for the future to take climate science into account and to choose tree species that are as well adapted and resilient as possible to rising temperatures and fire risks, and most able to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis on communities. Reforestation must also be as diversified as possible to respond to changes whose nature and intensity are difficult to predict at local level.
Eighth condition: mobilize collective intelligence. Having set the course, political leaders now have the opportunity to work with public, civic, and private stakeholders who have the experience, creativity, and means to fulfil these conditions. There is a very large potential for multi-stakeholder collaboration, and many good practices to identify and develop at scale.
Following the mobilization of 19 January, the State holds the cards to consolidate the national momentum, drawing on its own technical experts and consulting, federating, and empowering all stakeholders around a consensus strategy. This strategy must be based on common principles, performance criteria, and monitoring and evaluation measures. It will facilitate effective and lasting action, and convince donors who are waiting for it before unlocking financial resources commensurate with the scale of the challenge. It will enable the State to facilitate coherent implementation at the national, regional, and local levels.
We know what remains to be done. These eight conditions for success are within Madagascar’s reach. As signatories of this open letter, we commit to helping the President, the Government, and all relevant stakeholders to succeed in the Madagascar Green Island ambition, in the service of the well-being of the population, and to make it a globally recognized reference programme.
Open letter coordinated by INDRI, the Initiative for Development, Ecological Restoration and Innovation (www.indri.solutions)
Signatories, in alphabetical order:
Noro Andriamamonjiarison
Laurencia Idealisoa Andriamparamasy
11 years old, Fanilo scout at the ECAR “Fo Masin’i Jesoa”, committed to reforestation in Antsiranana
Christian Andriantiana Assomany
Consultant, leader of the Tree4Life project
Luc Arnaud
Director General of GRET
Christian Burren
Forester, expert in natural resource management
Christian Camara
Permanent Representative of the Programme for Research and Conservation of Nature in Madagascar, Missouri Botanical Garden
Emmanuel Cotsoyannis
Director General of the Miarakap fund
Jean-Luc Dama
President of the Madagascar Clove Exporters’ Group – GEGM
Frédéric Debouche
President of the NGO Graine de Vie
Hermany Emoantra
National President of the MIHARI network
Gaëtan Etancelin
National President of the Malagasy Organic Farming Union – SYMABIO
Claude Fanohiza
Executive Director of the Tany Meva Foundation, Chairman of the Board of INDRI – Initiative for Development, Ecological Restoration and Innovation
Amiraly Hassim
President of the Syndicate of Industries of Madagascar (SIM)
Georges Geerarts
President of the Madagascar Vanilla Exporters’ Group – GEVM
Marie-Christina Kolo
Coordinator of Green N Kool and Advocacy Officer of the Indian Ocean Climate Network
Adrian Levrel
Country Director of the consultancy INSUCO
Richard Lewis
Madagascar Programme Director, Durrell
Lauréat Mandresilahatra
Country Representative, Coeur de Forêt association
François-Xavier Mayer
Administrator of the Confederation of Tourism of Madagascar and Scientific Director of the NGO Cétamada
Jean-Jacques Meunier
Aga Khan Foundation – Madagascar CEO
Jean-Philippe Palasi
Executive Director of INDRI – Initiative for Development, Ecological Restoration and Innovation
Karine Rabefarita
Communications professional, co-founder of the Solutio agency and the Dujardin Delacour & Cie agency
Erwan Rabenevanana
Founder, The Dry Forest Initiative
Ketakandriana Rafitoson
Executive Director of Transparency International – Initiative Madagascar
Julien Noël Rakotoarisoa
National Focal Point for Landscape and Forest Restoration, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Lanto Rakotoarisoa
President of the Group of Free Enterprise and Partners – GEFP
Liva Raharijaona
Executive Director of the Madagascar Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity
Marie-Jeanne Raherilalao
Lecturer-researcher at the University of Antananarivo and founding member of the Vahatra association
Serge Rajaobelina
President of the NGO Fanamby
Fredy Rajaonera
Deputy Director General of Chocolaterie Robert (Ramanandraibe Group) and Chairman of the Miarakap fund
Sahondra Rajoelina
Country Director of Conservation International
Mamy Rakotoarijaona
General Director of Madagascar National Parks
Jean-Chrysostome Rakotoary
Former General Director of ONE (National Office for the Environment)
Tovondriaka Rakotobe
Madagascar Representative of the Nitidae association
Sanda Anjara Rakotomalala
Co-coordinator responsible for advocacy, Malagasy Youth Biodiversity Network
Olivier Rakotoson
President of the Group of Exporters of Essential Oils, Extracts and Oleoresins of Madagascar – GEHEM
Barijaona Ramaholimihaso
Adviser to the General Director, BNI Madagascar Bank
Madeleine Ramaholimihaso
President of the Association for the Promotion of Enterprise in Madagascar (APEM)
Honorary President of the Order of Chartered Accountants and Financial Experts of Madagascar
Founder and Honorary President of KMF-CNOE
Bruno Salomon Ramamonjisoa
Lecturer-Researcher, École Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques, University of Antananarivo
Guy-Suzon Ramangason
Former General Director of Madagascar National Parks
Gérard Rambeloarisoa
Forester, Former Executive Director of the Madagascar Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity
Sandrina Randriamananjara Andriamanjato
Executive Secretary of the Association of Madagascar Urban Professionals
Max Fontaine Randrianarisoa
Director of Bôndy
Aimé Rasamison
Managing Director of Biodev Madagascar Consulting
Lovy Rasolofomanana
Country Director, Wildlife Conservation Society
Nanie Ratsifandrihamanana
Country Director, WWF Madagascar
Jonah Ratsimbazafy
President of the Madagascar Primates Study and Research Group (GERP)
Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo
President of the OP500 Environment and Society Association
Mbolatiana Raveloarimisa
Founder of Wake Up Madagascar
Executive Secretary of the Coalition of Radios
Ndranto Razakamanarina
President of the Alliance Voahary Gasy
Andrinavalomanana Razafiarison
National President, Fivondronan’ny Mpandraharaha Malagasy – FIV.MPA.MA
Louis de Gonzague Razafimanandraibe
National President of TAFO MIHAAVO, Network of community managers of natural resources in Madagascar
Lucienne Wilmé
National Coordinator, World Resources Institute