Ho avy

Location: Ranobe, Madagascar
Start Date: February 2007
Expected Completion Date i.e. when expected to be self-sufficient: 2011(-2013)

Project Concept:

The project ho avy - growing for the future (www.hoavy.org) in southwestern Madagascar, focuses on safeguarding biodiversity and people’s livelihoods for a sustainable future (ho avy means 'future' in the Malagasy language).

Ho avy is a collaborative effort between the Czech based association ‘ho avy’ o.s. and the USA based non-profit New Latitude (New Latitude - www.newlatitude.org - receives 501[c](3) non-profit status as a project of IHCenter, www.ihcenter.org). Ho avy’s Malagasy counterpart is the rural community association FIMPAHARA, who is dedicated to the propagation and restoration of the native forest.

The ho avy program strives for sustainable and participatory community conservation and sustainable rural development leading to self-sufficient livelihoods in the unique and unprotected and highly endangered Spiny Forest ecosystem. Our goals are to reduce rampant degradation of the forest, conserve and restore the forest by building logistical and human capacity, promote alternative livelihoods that are ecologically sustainable in the long-run, and generate self-sustainable enterprises and alternative fair-trade markets from incentive based conservation actions.

To date ho avy has initiated:

• an innovative grassroots environmental education program that inspires rural communities to recognize the true ecological equity of the endangered Spiny Forest ecosystem, sustainable use of local natural resources and conservation stewardship, e.g. reforestation, patrolling the forest against further destruction and agroforestry schemes
• building synergetic and empowering partnerships with Malagasy institutions and rural communities to facilitate local initiatives: a demonstration tree nursery, forest sanctuary and community supported resource and education center mobilizing restoration teams and conservation stewards in rural and urban areas, to ultimately:
  1. ecologically restore: (i) over harvested forests affected by selective logging, and (ii) degraded forest edges bordering agricultural fields to support healthy transitional semi-natural habitats
  2. plant trees: (i) on conventional crop land in integrated agroforestry polycultures and (ii) in small edible home gardens to eventually diversify and increase crop production and cultivate local resources sustainably, i.e. integrating fuel wood, agricultural products, plant medicines and essential oils, and (iii) generate income by selling surpluses of food, medicinal and other plant products, thus creating multiple incentive based opportunities that simultaneously benefit Malagasy communities and reduce deforestation.

Both women and men equally share roles and responsibilities in these activities including construction, supervision and maintenance of the training center, tree nursery, home food gardens, integrated agroforestry schemes, seed collection, compost production, sustainable water harvest, tree planting and monitoring. For children there will be a creative educational and outreach facility with a tree nursery and ‘green classroom’; teenagers will become tree-preneurs, growing trees to improve their independent living standards. All the above activities offer fair win-win options that will favor communities and individuals who are dedicated participants and leaders in the project.

We believe that conservation and development actions need to be harmonized, as overcoming the degradation of the world’s most unique ecosystems may prove impossible without offering genuine opportunities to sustainably mitigate poverty amongst the local people. Integrating permaculture principles is, in our view, the most sustainable approach to achieve the above goals.

Detailed Project Description:

a) Location: The island of Madagascar is located in the western Indian Ocean; the SW province is Toliara and our field site is a rural village 30 km N of the provincial capital Toliara, 10 km E of the coastal village Ambolimalailaka; in the region known as the ‘Ranobe Forest’; in the village Ranobe (meaning ‘the great waters’ in Malagasy: S 23.00.568, E 043.36.604.

b) Size: 5 ha of FIMPAHARA’s agricultural land is for permaculture and agroforestry activities. There are 800 people in the community Ranobe. Ther is 12 000 ha of total forest area (spreading N and SE from the Ranobe village), 80 ha under conservation management by FIMPAHARA (zone 5 with near future expansion to 2200 ha).

c) Wildlife: SW Madagascar is one of the 200 most important, unique and biologically diverse ecological regions in the world with a fine mosaic of distinct habitats that harbor a multitude of endemic wildlife of significant conservation concern. Birds are considered the top conservation priority, and Ranobe has the most diverse bird fauna of any site in southern Madagascar: a total of 131 species from 51 families represents 51% of Madagascar’s entire avifauna; 50% of the species are endemic to Madagascar and 8% endemic to the southern ecoregion. Among 12 species that are locally endemic or listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2007), there are two very important conservation flagship bird species: the long-tailed ground roller (Uratelornis chimaera) and the subdesert mesite (Monias benschii), both monotypic genera from endemic families with global distribution limited to SW Madagascar.

The extensive wetland complex on the western outskirts of the forest supports 41 wetland species; these records are exceptional for this sub-arid region of southern Madagascar, 8 of these species are endemic to the south of the country and four are Red Listed. Nine lemur species have been recorded in the region. In May 2009 a new species (unknown to science) of giant mouse lemur (genus Mirza) was discovered (by ho avy’s collaborators). The Ranobe forest is currently the only site for the rare subspecies of the narrow-striped mongoose Mungotictis decemlineata lineata, known from only two specimens. There are important roosts in the region for the Vulnerable fruit bat Pteropus rufus. A number of locally endemic species of reptiles, including the flagship radiated tortoise (Asterochelys radiata), the world’s rarest chameleon Furcifer belalandensis and several other chameleons, lizards and snakes, IUCN classified as Vulnerable, are not known from other sites in Madagascar. Freshwater habitats represent a diverse niche complex for fish species yet to be discovered. The potential for finding undiscovered species of invertebrates is immense, considering the lack of substantial biological inventories. In addition, the fossilized remains of extinct mega-fauna, i.e. pygmy hippo, giant lemur and the elephant bird have been found exclusively in limestone caves south and east of Ranobe.

d) Plant life: The Spiny Forest is the oldest biome of Madagascar and the most arid (average annual rainfall is ca. 300 mm). The forest is formed by semi-deciduous spiny vegetation consisting of by far the most unique plant assemblages on Madagascar, with the highest level of plant endemism in Madagascar. 48% of the genera and 95% of the known species are endemic to SW Madagascar. Among many are the dominant endemic baobabs (Adansonia spp.), succulent endemic family Didieraceae (CITES listed), and numerous genera and species of Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Rubiaceae and Asteraceae. At least two dozen species at our site are IUCN Red Listed as Endangered, Vulnerable or of Lower Risk. Botanically the region is essentially unexplored, with only a handful of surveys to date and a current estimate of 500 known plant taxa (trees, shrubs, lianas, geophytes and succulents). The Ranobe forest harbors unprecedented diversity and suggests a high potential for future discoveries.

e) Points of special interest, who or what will benefit from this project: The Spiny Forest ecosystem is among the most threatened biodiversity hotspots on Earth and is disappearing faster than any other forest on Madagascar. This is mainly because the peasants clearing the forest to produce charcoal (for c.a. 7 million people across half of the country), and for cultivating lands for personal/industrial/export sale of maize. The entire region is under intense, ‘alien’ socio-economic pressures, interested in exploiting very valuable mineral and agricultural resources (maize, TiO2, gems, etc.) in immoral and destructive ways. A combination of these exploitive factors has triggered climate change affects (prolonged droughts) endangering the lives of 250,000 Malagasy children in Southern Madagascar (BBC 2009).

More than 30 tree species in the Ranobe Forest are frequently harvested specifically for charcoal wood and construction timber; 20% of the forest plants are edible and 60% have medicinal properties. The Rosy Periwinkle (endemic to southern Madagascar) saves the lives of up to 60,000 children annually (nearly all in western countries) suffering from childhood leukemia, increasing the rate of survival from 10% to 90%. While generating £75 million a year, virtually none of this money finds its way back to Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. Charcoal is made in forest clearings (aprox. 0.1 ha) by burning 10-20 m3 piles of wood. When charcoal is harvested, the clearings remain open (‘charcoal pits’) fragmenting the continuous forest.

A combined management of (a) rotational harvest restricting disturbance-free forest zones (no wood extraction, no grazing) to allow natural regeneration, (b) growing trees in nurseries for multifold reforestation and (c) integrated permaculture landscape use and local livelihoods leading to self-reliance will:

• greatly reduce deforestation of this unique and diverse forest and will foster natural regeneration leading to healthier ecosystems
• strengthen sustainable self sufficiency reducing forest exploitation by increasing and diversifying crop yields from integrated polycultures and edible forest gardens
• produce more food for local peoples’ use and also to generate incomes from food surplus sales
• assist and assure forest recovery by ecological restoration/afforestation efforts and monitoring, by reintroducing target species into disturbed forest patches (charcoal pits), reforest and link them, connect forest fragments and reforest entire corridors
• create ‘ecotones’ (transitional habitats) by planting trees on cultivated land bordering forest edges to favor wildlife colonization, and assist plant dispersal (i.e. attracting wildlife that pollinates flowers and distributes seeds)
• mobilize lasting community motivation (and ownership) by implementing empowering incentive-based conservation and permaculture approaches, creating enriching opportunities at an exemplary demonstration site(s), and permaculture training to safeguard and sustainably utilize forest resources
• create youth conservation teams to inspire and promote conservation knowledge and cultivate self-awareness and care for their own future
• delegate responsibilities to local ‘extension agents’ to advance activities and mobilize local participation, local governance and leadership
• promote this model and inspire surrounding local communities as well as international audiences through sensitive outreach and responsible ecotourism

f) history: The program ho avy has grown from a seed project researching natural regeneration of the Spiny Forest in 2008, partnering with one family (c.a. 30 people) in the village Ranobe, from which FIMPHARA has arisen. This group of people were intrigued by the opportunity to work with ho avy and took spontaneous action in donating land for a tree nursery and began planting native trees for restoration, soon it became apparent that permaculture and sustainable agroforestry can significantly improve their current livelihoods, land use and forest conservation, ensuring long-term self sustaining motivation that safeguards unique ecosystems in perpetuity.

Land ownership: FIMAPAHARA is the owner of 15ha of crops land, 5ha will be the trial site for improved agroforestry polycultures. The forest area for ho avy’s conservation and restoration activities (a proposed community managed forest sanctuary) is state-owned and in the process of becoming approved as a community managed protected area. The program ho avy facilitates negotiations between multiple government and non-govenrment stake holders for the official transfer of management of these 80 ha of forest to FIMPAHARA to ecologically monitor and restore the area. The agreement will be formalized in December and may coincide with (or precede) the official approval of the protected area Ranobe.

The participating community: FIMPAHARA, a rural community association in the village Ranobe (15 active adult members, 10 youth and up to 30 additional affiliates) is ho avy’s chief Malagasy counterpart. FIMPAHARA was officially formed in March 2008 defining its mission to propagate native plants and reforest degraded areas. FIMPAHARA has been a tremendously valuable partner to the program ho avy since first contact in November 2007. In its full capacity FIMPAHARA has been collaborating with ho avy since February 2008, proving a wonderful potential to become the premiere community group leading responsible sustainable conservation and development in the region.

The entire community of Ranobe (> 800 persons) and other communities in the regions (Figure 1) will be involved in tree nursery propagation, reforestation and agroforestry activities adopting ho avy’s model with assistance and training from FIMPAHARA members. FIMPAHARA will lead in the construction and management of a community managed resource center and provide expert advice to surrounding villages.

Planned activities

Combining conservation and restoration of forest and wetland habitats, encouraging self-reliant food systems, diversified renewable energy sources, incorporation of appropriate technologies, implementation of local governance and human policy.

Tree nurseries: A pilot nursery has been built on the NE outskirts of the village and the Ranobe lake on ca. 0.5 ha of land (abandoned agricultural field on the edge of continuous forest that was offered to ho avy by the president of FIMPAHARA in February 2008. Trees have been raised in the pilot nursery by FIMPAHARA since then and planted on the 0.5 ha to develop a ‘demonstration afforestation area’ for the region. The nursery has further referred to as the native tree sanctuary, and lies at the entry point of the proposed 80ha protected forest. In less than a year, upwards of a thousands trees have been raised. Currently 185 trees of 30 species are growing in the sanctuary galley and over 600 additional trees are being maintained to transplant at the beginning of the upcoming rainy season (12/2009).

The pilot nursery construction has suffered slight roof damage during two cyclones in March 2009. During the repair (11/2009), the nursery will be enlarged to a capacity to house several thousands tree saplings. This nursery will be made into:

Nursery 1) Demonstration native tree nursery raising exclusively indigenous tree species that are frequently harvested from the forest for making charcoal, construction timber, medicinal or edible plants. System of gutters and channels to collect and re-direct rainwater, and drip-line irrigation will be installed on this demonstration site to conserve and efficiently distribute water.

Tree saplings from this nursery will be planted in the sanctuary galley in representative numbers per species to make the galley a high diversity afforestation botanical site and an ideal location for outreach, e.g., interpretation, education, training in research and monitoring. Thousands of saplings of more than 50 indigenous taxa will be propagated to reforest harvested charcoal pits in the initial area of 80 ha and the future 2200 ha and forest periphery bordering agricultural fields north and south of the proposed forest sanctuary.

Two other nurseries will be set up in the proximity of the lake (and ground water for initial watering). Setting multiple nurseries allows allocation of trees to guilds with specific planting aims, proximity to final planting location, spreading the risk of weather damage or herbivore outbreak and providing diversified training opportunities to different parts of the village.

Nursery 2) Production nursery for fast growing and multipurpose trees (fuel wood, alternative energies (oil), food, shade, erosion control etc. both native and non-native that grow vigorously and are superior fuel and construction wood sources, yet will be used very cautiously and in diverse planting mixtures (not monocrops) for their highly invasive character. Another sought after species requiring cultivation is a species used for making boats (piroques) that are traditionally used by the coastal fishermen. Saplings of these trees will be intercropped to existing agricultural fields.

Nursery 3) Outreach nursery for indigenous and cultivated utilitarian, food and medicinal plants will be supervised by women and serve as educational ground for children (part of the nursery will be secluded for children and their educational programs). This will also be the training site in nursery set-up for future individual tree-preneurs. Native food trees will be planted, all locally cultivated fruits and food plants: banana, papay, mango, guava, orange, lemon, passion fruit, tsinefo (jujube), taro (around the lake), and for the first time: cashew, annona, carob tree, Malabar chestnut, persimmon, mulberry, coconut and avocado.

Tree saplings raised in nurseries 2 and 3 will be intercropped into conventional fields of FIMPAHARA (area of 5 ha), in abandoned fields and prospectively (when larger community get’s mobilized) to the partly overgrown secondary scrublands in the eastern outskirts of the village in planting patterns respecting the individual species groundwater requirements and sun tolerance. Integrated agroforestry polycultures will be thoughtfully arranged to stack vegetation layers vertically and in time, to maximize production, e.g. canopy of fast-growing plants can shelter and partially shade slower growing plants and vegetables in the lower canopies and the understory.

The nursery will propagate species for setting up edible home kitchen and forest gardens around individual households in the living compounds of the village. Species compositions of these gardens will reflect daily-basis needs of families, incl. insect repellent and medicinal plants. The children’s section of the nursery will propagate trees for planting around the school and after school activity club.

Placement of the nurseries reflect logistics and convenient zoning in terms of tree use (home zone, cultivation zone and forest zone), proximity to water source for sustainable water harvest, proximity to the final planting location and to human resources (for maintenance).

2. Soil building and enrichment, recycling of organic waste:

Abundant leftover biomass (from harvested corn, sugar cane and manioc crops, grass covering degraded savanna type areas, rice straw and cow dung provide substantial material for composting. Scrap wood, branches and wood chips from fuel wood plantations will be used to improve soil quality, by using them as mulch around planted trees and on vegetable beds, and will be composted with organic waste material, ash and charcoal dust. Several large compost piles for soil enrichment have been already created close to each future nursery and will be turned and expanded based on seasonal availability of organic material. Compost will be used for soil enrichment, added to planted trees and to build soil for vegetable beds. Composing toilets will be installed and the local community will be encouraged to use them.

3. Improved agroforestry systems:

The existing crop fields will be rotated and intercropped with native, fast growing, fruit, nitrogen fixing and medicinal trees. Fast growing multipurpose trees (Moringa, Jatropha) will be combined with native fast growing fuel wood trees and shrubs that will be coppiced. Ground covering food plants (yams, cucumbers, squash, melons), and green manure/nitrogen fixing herbs will be sown in the understorey.

4. Improved agriculture:

Benefiting from the close proximity of the village to the only lake in this dry region, vegetable beds will be planted, growing leafy and other valuable vegetables. With regards to the drought tolerance of vegetable types, sunken and mulched shaded beds will be set up for growing veg companion polycultures further from the lake and drip-line irrigation will be installed for the initial water management. Systems of channels, gutters and swales (where the terrain allows) will be made for effective streamlining of rain water, falling in large quantities during cyclone season. Underground cisterns will be built for harvesting rain water and so will underground dry storage places (as a way to store vegetables and other fresh products).

5. Sustainable energy solutions:

• Fuel wood: The Ranobe community will mobilize and follow FIMPAHARA’s existing model nursery to propagate fast growing trees (both native and non-native) for fuel wood and timber. We will plant nitrogen fixing trees to improve soil quality and tree growth, edible and medicinal species, and multipurpose and high yield oil producing trees. Saplings will be raised in the nursery from October until the end of dry season and planted in degraded forest edges, to conventional underutilized and abandoned cropland in integrated agroforestry polycultures, and to small scale permaculture home garden, with the onset of the rainy season. Slower growing native trees will be included for long-term and more sustainable cultivation and coppicing practices.
• Energy effective cooking stoves for wood and for charcoal: Cooking with wood and charcoal is the major driver of energy consumption in Madagascar. Starting with improving the existing systems (which are open fire and/or simple metal charcoal stoves that loose up to 70% of energy), we will encourage the rural community to improve these systems and demonstrate installation of fuel effective stoves, which we recently trained to build in Europe (see here and here).
• Biomass recycling into biogas: To further diversity cooking energy options, excessive livestock faeces, rice and maize seed husks and trimmed straw, will be processed in a biogas methane digester and converted into fuel for cooking. Waste material from the biofuel digester will be utilized as a compost.
• Local solar energy use: Women in the village will be mobilized and instructed in use of solar ovens for cooking, as well as for heating water to wash their children and improve sanitation conditions. SODIS solar (UV) water sterilization system will be used to clean drinking water. Solar dryers will be introduced as a way to dry and preserve meats, fruits and vegetables (banana, papaya, mango, guava, sweet potatoes, taro) for the dry season (when food is scarce) and value added products that can be sold on markets, further diversifying and generating new income sources. Solar panels will be installed (12/09) and used as source of energy for pumping water from wells in the village and as an energy source for a community resource and training center (see below).

6. Education, training and outreach:

The project ho avy puts emphasis on promoting education and outreach to instil an understanding about the global context and vulnerability and true ecological patrimony of the Spiny Forest ecosystem and to introduce appropriate technologies for increasing energy stability. A community resource and training center will be established, and will:

• provide information, hold discussions, education, and training workshops and raise awareness about sustainability
• train the local people in permaculture practices
• organize education for children in a ‘green classroom’ and for women in ‘women club’
• launch an outdoor educational multimedia theater for screening inspirational and educational movies, clips, presentations, for celebrating reforestation days, festivals etc.

7. Local economies:

Marketing native plant products such as plants pressed into oils for cooking, biogas and soap, as well as excess vegetables grown in improved soil conditions; fruits as well as meats and fish can be dried in solar driers, stored and sold; fibers from yucca (Yucca americana), sisal (Agave sisalana) and (possibly hemp (Cannabis sativa) can be made into ropes and sails. Locally produced milk can be made into artisanal cheeses and butter. Other prospective local initiatives will improve local self-reliant economies and strengthen local, national and possible international trade. As the project develops, the training center will be a local resource center for training surrounding communities and will produce revenue from the training of other communities. Additionally, responsible ecotourism and research activities will provide jobs as guides, guards patrolling forest as well as other conservation and development based work.

8. Closing open cycles in the system:

As outlined above and though trial and error we will discover more holes in the system as we proceed, and will build on experience over time to close the open cycles of energy, water, nutrients and economical deficiencies leading to improved livelihoods, natural resource, food and water sovereignty.

9. Natural building materials and resources training center construction:

Resourceful approaches and local materials will be used for building the permaculture training center. This model demonstration center will be built using Eucalyptus? wood, and will include a roofed gathering area with a blackboard, information desk, meteorological station and radio broadcasting set-up, situated near the village to hold discussions, education, and training workshops, a children’s ‘green classroom’ (close to the nurseries) with a few straw mats under a big tamarind tree. In addition an outdoor educational multimedia theater for screening inspirational and educational movies, photos, presentations, will be set up for celebrating reforestation days, festivals etc. A modest ‘ecolodge’ for project staff and visitor will be build in the proximity of the resource center.

10. Conservation interpretation and ecotourism:

The permaculture/agroforestry/reforestation demonstration site, forest and wetland sanctuary will have nature, wildlife and conservation interpretation material in a nature reserve visitor area within the training center. A network of guided and self-guided trails will be developed throughout the sanctuary and a basic camp ground will offer low impact ecotourism and provide supplementary jobs and income to the local community.

Project outputs:

• model permaculture site and training center for the local people and future practitioners of permaculture to inspire and make available approaches of permaculture, sustainability and self-sufficiency among the local rural communities
• functional permaculture site, agroforestry and several thousand trees raised within the first two years and planted to the forest and agricultural fields. At least 50 adult and 50 youth villagers trained in the permaculture center and in turn distribute their knowledge to three other restoration teams, reaching over 300 villagers. At least 100 children will be part of the green classroom and up to 2000 local people will participate in reforestation days, festivals and other events organized at the community center.
• creative and inspirational educational materials produced in collaboration with communities, i.e., engaging posters, pictures, videos and cartoons about sustainability and the benefits of reforestation and community initiated solutions. Information will be made multilingual and available in public places, i.e., schools, village shops, village president’s house, churches, etc.
• ultimately a self-reliance of the local community and independency on external markets.

Partners:

The project ho avy has already established a strong network of international and local collaborators and partnerships with conservation and development organizations and groups: NGOs as well as national ministries, the regional University of Toliara, involving university students in the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Environmental Education, allowing authentic exposure to rural and urban grassroots initiatives.

Ho avy’s closest collaborating partners in Madagascar are: WWF Madagascar, Conservation International, DREFT, the national Ministry of Forests and Watersheds, GTZ (environmental education packages), HONKO (mangrove conservation and restoration, community outreach program), Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute (engagement of youth in reforestation), ADES and MADASOLEIL (community solar energy projects and documentary movies about socially and environmentally conscious issues), BushProof (appropriate technologies), Naturefund (support for reforestation and project promotion).

Project Duration & Schedule:

Short-term goals and development: building up:
Phase I: October 2009 - April 2010: setting up the demonstration site, hands-on community permaculture training and participation on the site set up and training center construction

Phase II: May 2010 - September 2010: building up local capacity, trial run and maintenance of the demonstration site under community supervision

Medium goals – towards self-sufficiency:
Phase III: October 2010 - April 2011: further site development, development of the training center, training trainees from the local community and developing a curriculum of the permaculture courses for the local communities; running permaculture training courses

Phase IV: May 2011 - September 2011: the permaculture site in full responsibility of the local people, trained community organizes and runs courses for surrounding communities

Long-term goal: self-sufficient
Phase V: October 2011-September 2013 – agricultural products sustainable, surplus subject to local economics

Phase VI: October 2013-September 2015 – full project independency and self-sufficiency

Project Needs:

The project ho avy will greatly benefit advice and feedback on specific design components (especially water supply), interested experts coming down south to help up with certain aspects of the development, experienced permaculture teachers.

As we are at the beginning of our efforts to build up, financial support is sought.

Estimation of the costs, what resources and manpower will be needed:

• Set up of the permaculture site, tree nursery, solar power station, alternative fuels and training center complex: 3000 USD
• Initial financial estimates to community and individuals actively involved in the center and training program (incl. jobs): 2000 USD (self-sufficient through community permaculture training and ecotourism long-term)

Other Info:

A prospective extension of this project would include designing school/campus edible gardens in several rural and sub-urban primary schools and the local university.

Updates:

Update 1: Ho avy: Growing a Future for Madagascar

Update 2: Ho avy: Keeps Growing for the Future and Growing High