We are the Babbs family. Sue, Simon & Matthew visited Madagascar in July 2014. We fell in love with the country, people and wildlife, and keep returning!
Paul Simmons (member of Friends of Toliara leadership team) writes:
One of the impressions from my first visit to SW Madagascar in 2016 was that the region has a number of serious ecological problems due to the pressure on people to survive. The main one is the destruction of the forest. If you are a farmer, drought or blight comes and crops fail, so you live off the forest, and maybe burn a stretch to graze your zebu, or plant some crop in the ash-enriched soil. You need to cook so you buy charcoal made from the forest timber. You build your house from wood cut from the forest. Toliara province is dry, and rain is irregular. Drought frequency and severity has increased in recent years due to climate change. The pre-human vegetation is mainly the spiny forest, dominated by didierea trees and baobabs. During one Friends of Toliara meeting, we discussed the devastation of the forest evident from an arial map survey comparison and the Bishop lamented how much the forest has been destroyed in his lifetime.
Deforestation in the Toliara region, 1985-2016
Last September we heard about a charity planting mangroves in Madagascar. Mangrove forest occurs along much of the west coast of the province, which may have one advantage over other forests, in that their brackish marine environments may be less susceptible to drought and climate change. In fact, this turns out to be complicated, since most mangrove species do need some fresh water, and climate change powered cyclones and sea level rises pose threats to their physical environment. Nevertheless, mangrove forests provide numerous advantages to a community, including protection of the coast from cyclone damage as well as providing an important food supply, especially fish which are a major source of protein in the area. Several of the coastal fishing villages in mangrove areas have Episcopal (EEM) churches, so Bishop Samy proposed we work with them in order to help protect the mangroves in their area.
After trying several mangrove research organizations, we made contact with Emma Gibbons, Head science officer at Reefdoctor https://www.reefdoctor.org/ which works on a mangrove reserve north of Toliara, near Ambondrolava. Emma explained that sustainable mangrove planting will only work with the cooperation of the community, so we developed a plan to involve the local EEM churches and their villages by first raising awareness.
On 10 July, Paul and Ialy Cael (Diocesan Economic Development Coordinator) took 20 members of the EEM churches in Mangily, Belaza and Ankilibe to visit the reserve in Ambondrolava.
We were given a guided tour by the president of the association. He explained they have 7 of the 8 Madagascar mangrove species in the reserve. They also have about 70 wetland bird species, the highest recorded wetland bird diversity in the region.
We explained the benefits of mangroves to the participants:
More fish and crabs, since the mangroves provide food, shelter, and spawning ground for these.
Fruit and leaves for food and medicine
Flowers for bees – potentially locals can make top quality mangrove-blossom honey.
Protection to the coast from cyclone waves and storm surges
Protection to the coral reefs and sea grass from land runoff
Potentially a sustainable source of excellent quality construction timber and firewood (although currently it is illegal to cut for this purpose)
Benefit to the world by absorbing greenhouse gases – mangroves are very effective in this
The ecosystem supports a wide biodiversity including plants, birds, and animals which may interest tourists
The ecosystem is a beautiful thing for the locals to enjoy
God made the mangrove ecosystem and saw that it was good. He made man to look after it (Genesis 2.15). He is not happy if we let it be destroyed.
Most of the visiting church members were very engaged and grew enthusiastic. They wanted to know what they could do to help.
On 11 July Paul, Ialy and Emily Nell Lagerquist (another Friends of Toliara Leader) visited the mangrove site at Belaza.
M. Gilbert Mandily (president of the local mangrove association) gave us a guided visit.
The mangrove forest here and in Ankilibe has suffered a lot more damage than at Ambondrolava, and needs restoration. There are only 3 species (Afiafy, Tangabe, and Sangora) and many trees have been cut or looted, reportedly by charcoal makers from the south who sell the charcoal in Toliara. The police turn a blind eye. We visited the foreshore where there is a large area which could be planted.
The site seemed ideal. Furthermore, there was going to be a low tide around midday on World Mangrove Day, July 26. The next steps were to obtain the appropriate authorisation and co-operation, the right propagules (baby mangroves), planting expertise, and security backing. Emma Gibbons invited Bishop Samy, Paul, Emily Nell, Ialy and M. Bienaimé to lunch at her house (3km north of Ifaty) on Tuesday July 15.
We planned a planting at Belaza on World Mangrove Day to take place in parallel with an event at Ambondrolava. Reefdoctor provided the propagules, technical and security backing, and the church and village provided the site and the manpower.
Emily Nell was present at the Belaza event, along with 51 adults and numerous children from the local community. It was a success, and a good first step to having a thriving mangrove forest on this stretch of the coast, giving people food and beauty, and giving God glory.
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