Restoring Madagascar’s Forests and Futures: Supporting 600 Households
Jun 2025Chester Zoo and Madagasikara Voakajy
Charity Partner
Your support in June 2025 has helped us partner with Chester Zoo and Madagasikara Voakajy (MV) to create lasting change for both people and nature in Mangabe, Madagascar. Together, we’ve funded two community-led plant nurseries that empower local families to protect their forests while building sustainable livelihoods.
Mangabe’s rainforest is a biodiversity treasure, home to the rare Indri lemur and golden mantella frog. Yet, deforestation and poverty threaten this fragile ecosystem. This project ensures communities have the tools to replant forests, grow crops sustainably, and improve household incomes.
The nurseries, managed by local workers, are not just about planting trees, they’re hubs of opportunity. They’ve supported 600 households with agroecological training and distributed seedlings for food and income, like fruit trees and fuelwood. These initiatives restore the land, reduce slash-and-burn farming, and provide jobs, ensuring families can send their children to school.
Thank you for nurturing a future where people and nature thrive together. Because of you, Mangabe’s forest and its communities are growing stronger every day.
Chester Zoo is a world-leading conservation charity, driving progress towards a future where nature can not only survive but thrive. The organisation leads cutting-edge conservation projects in over 20 countries, addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and the global extinction crisis. Madagasikara Voakajy (MV), led by 2021 Tusk Award winner Julie Razafimanahaka, is a Malagasy biodiversity organisation committed to enabling communities to live in harmony with nature while thriving through the protection and regeneration of their natural environment. Working closely with local communities, MV’s skilled conservation team draws on the knowledge and strengths of those living within Madagascar’s protected areas to reverse the decline of threatened species. For 15 years, Chester Zoo and MV have collaborated successfully on vital conservation projects that safeguard Madagascar’s rich biodiversity while helping local communities develop sustainable livelihoods. In 2015, the Mangabe Reserve—a 27,346-hectare area of protected and controlled land and MV’s flagship project—was established with the support of Chester Zoo. MV manages the Mangabe conservation landscape, working closely with local communities to care for, regenerate, and sustainably utilise the forest’s resources while improving livelihoods.
