Case Study

Protecting Madagascar’s forests

Community lifelines Social development

The increasing loss of forest cover in Madagascar has become a serious problem. The large island off the east coast of Africa is famous for its rich and unique biodiversity, much of which depends on a thick layer of trees. Not only is local wildlife suffering the effects of declining forests, but the people living in Madagascar too. Much of the rural population of the island depends on forest for their livelihoods, particularly for food security, and its decline reduces access to clean water and resilience to extreme weather conditions.

To help halt the fragmentation of Madagascar’s forests, the Finnish flag carrier, Finnair, has been supporting Project Manondroala alongside the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. This project aims to restore the continuous rainforest corridor around Andasibe village in Eastern Madagascar, which is home to roughly 12,000 people. By using satellite imagery to map the forests, the Project Manondroala team are able to see the scale of the problems caused by gold mining or illegal logging and identify where action needs to be taken. Once a detailed map is drawn up, new trees can be planted strategically to repopulate the forest.

Finnair passengers can contribute to the project by donating their points, with a donation of 1,000 points equating to three new seedlings being planted.