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SAVA conservation has been planting 30,000
to 45,000 trees each year in the SAVA region.
Most of our reforestation projects are taking
place in villages near Marojejy National Park.
However, community leaders in Sambava
have emphasized how little reforestation is
occurring near the city itself. Aside from the
many environmental benefits of planting
trees (mitigating global warming and erosion
and more), there is growing urban demand
for wood planks for construction and char-
coal. In Madagascar, charcoal provides nearly
90% of the energy used for cooking in urban
households (Montagne et al., 2010). Approxi-
mately 18 million cubic meters of wood is uti-
lized as fuel wood each year in Madagascar,
of which about half is used for charcoal
(Meyers et al., 2006). Locally, demand in
Sambava is contributing to illegal selective
logging inside Marojejy, particularly in the
Andratamarina region of northeast Marojejy.
The price of charcoal has increased steadily in
the SAVA region, as the vast majority of char-
coal is produced in one location near Antalaha
and distributed by truck 80km to Sambava
and nearly 200km to Andapa. Most of the
charcoal in this region comes from Mandrorofo (
Trachylobium sp.
) trees, a native species.
However, increasingly non-native species such as Acacia and Mango are used for charcoal
as demand increases.
Fortunately, the Malagasy reforestation organization RANOALA (translates as “water
and forest”) is newly based in Sambava itself. RANOALA was founded by Mr. Jean Pascal
Josoa or “Pascal” (see picture above) in 2010. After finishing a very successful career in
politics, he wanted to focus more on his passion for planting trees, and completed profes-
sional training as a certified tree nursery technician. He served as Sambava’s elected
mayor twice, Deputy three times, and later served in the federal government as the Chief
of the Province and the Vice-President of the National Finance Assembly. He says he chose
to start RANOALA because he became aware of climate change and was ready to leave
politics. RANOALA has grown quickly – in just five years, Pascal has established five tree
nurseries and has planted nearly 60,000 trees.
Last year SAVA Conservation was approached by the well-known Ravelo/Tandramena
family for assistance in reforesting some of their land outside Sambava. We chose to part-
New Reforestation Project in Sambava with RANOALA
by Dr. Erik Patel
Pascal at his tree nursery
