Madagascar, a precious land in danger!
Madagascar is facing severe biodiversity loss and soil erosion due to deforestation. Every year, over 100,000 hectares of forest disappear in fire. We need to act now! This is the mission of the OZ'Arbres association.
Supported since 2020 by Gattefossé, the objectives of OZ'Arbres are:
- Produce and supply trees for individual and community reforestation
- Raise awareness and support Malagasy communities
- Identify and support environmental conservation initiatives
Since its creation in 2018, the association has been able to produce over a million trees and distribute more than 820,000 trees to Malagasy communities. These young trees are cultivated in 4 nurseries by 80 volunteers in the Fianarantsoa region.
The seedlings are chosen to meet local needs: ornamental plants to help reforest villages, fruit plants to generate additional income, endemic species to reforest threatened primary forests.
They are then distributed for free to local populations so that they can plant them on their own land. The production of seedlings and the maintenance of the nurseries also enable to pay several local maintenance workers.
Distribution of seedlings in Ankijana
The association also organizes collective reforestation with local populations. This is a pleasant way of raising the awareness of different generations of Malagasy people to the importance of preserving forests, both to protect wildlife and to improve their daily living conditions. The association provides adapted educational documentation to explain how to plant and cultivate the trees.
In all, more than 500 families and 1,000 children have benefited from this initiative.
Collective reforestation day at Ampelamatory
The Gattefossé Group's environmental philanthropy initiatives are at the heart of its CSR roadmap, Gatt’Up&Act.
